Copley Press, the La Jolla-based publishers of...

Copley Press, the La Jolla-based publishers of more than a dozen newspapers, including The San Diego Union, The Tribune of San Diego, the Santa Monica Outlook and The Daily Breeze of Torrance, on Monday appointed David C. Copley president, effective immediately. He replaces Hubert L. Kaltenbach, president since 1978.

Copley, 36, is the son of Helen K. Copley, chairman and chief executive officer of the closely held company. He had been senior vice president and assistant to Kaltenbach since 1984. Kaltenbach becomes vice chairman of the company, which also publishes the San Pedro News-Pilot and eight Illinois newspapers, Kaltenbach said.

The younger Copley, a La Jolla resident, has been with the company since receiving his bachelor of science degree in business administration in 1975 from Menlo College in Menlo Park, Calif. He has been a member of the San Diego Union’s editorial board since 1979 and the head of the Copley News Service, which has 2,600 media subscribers, since 1981, said Copley general counsel Harold W. Fuson Jr.

In his new post, Copley will direct the chain’s daily operations, Kaltenbach said. Neither Helen nor David Copley was available for comment Monday.

In an interview, Kaltenbach described David Copley as an “excellently qualified, good all-around man (who has been in) the newspaper business all of his adult life. He has risen through the various appointments and assignments to the presidential level.”

Helen Copley inherited majority ownership of the newspaper chain in 1973 upon the death of her husband, James S. Copley. The chain, which has a total circulation of more than 600,000, was founded by Col. Ira C. Copley in 1905.