Gov. Rod Blagojevich last week appointed the outgoing president of DePaul University in Chicago, Rev. John P. Minogue, to serve on the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

“Education is the single and last hope we have to make the world a little better,” Minogue said during a phone interview.

The 15-member board is an independent agency that reviews the state’s education budget and policies affecting affordability and access to higher education, said Don Sevener, director of external relations for the board.

Minogue said his highest priority as a board member will be finding ways to make education more affordable. As former president of DePaul, Minogue said he was aware of many students experiencing difficulty financing their educations, so his “number one interest was to get every student graduated.”

“The cost of education is inflating at a rate greater than inflation,” Minogue said. “A lot of tuition rates have risen 4 to 6 percent.”

At DePaul, Minogue expanded opportunities for first-generation college students and students from under-served and under-represented communities, according to a statement by the DePaul University’s board of trustees. DePaul recently established Minogue scholarships to assist upperclassmen facing financial hardships.

“What he encouraged was a student approach,” said David Kalsbeek, vice president for enrollment management at DePaul. “I’m sure he would be bringing the same approach to his role at the (Illinois) Board of Higher Education.”

Minogue said he would like to improve the classroom learning opportunities, making them more challenging through the use of multimedia sources.

During Minogue’s 11-year tenure at DePaul, he revolutionized access to and implementation of technology, from establishing the School of Computer Science, Telecommunications and Information Systems to offering real-time services to students via the Web.

“He brought dramatic improvement to DePaul technologically,” said Kalsbeek. “He developed a whole range of Web-delivered services and an online curriculum for distance learning.”

Minogue secured funding to bring Internet access and professional development to needy inner-city K-12 schools, said Margo Tomares, senior project director of DePaul’s task force to bridge the “digital divide.” The funds were used to wire schools, purchase hardware and software, and provide teacher training in technology to enhance the curriculum.

Minogue currently teaches ethics in high-risk obstetrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

He was awarded the Polish Cross of Merit for his efforts to forge global connections between DePaul and universities in Poland and Brazil and traveled internationally to create partnerships with foreign universities.

Minogue graduated from St. Mary’s Seminary, DeAndreis Institute of Theology and DePaul University. He received a doctorate degree from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and his Doctor of Ministry from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill.

Two other board members recently named by the governor are Elmer L. Washington, emeritus professor at Chicago State University, and Addison E. Woodward Jr., emeritus professor at Governors State University.