Diane Hill takes husband's seat on Harper board

David Hill believed community colleges play a vital role in providing opportunities to people who want to better themselves.

Now Diane Hill hopes to continue her late husband's mission.

The Inverness resident on Thursday was appointed to fill the seat left open on Harper College's board of trustees following David Hill's death last month. The executive chairman of Rolling Meadows-based Kimball Hill Homes served as trustee since 2004.

"I'm extremely gratified the board has the confidence in me to fulfill David's mission to help the college move forward," Hill said. "I'm a bit overwhelmed."

The board unanimously approved the nomination Thursday night, and welcomed Hill with a standing ovation. Officials call the Hills generous contributors over the years, and special mention was made of David Hill's interest in programs for the hearing-impaired.

Hill said she approached Chairwoman Laurie Stone and asked to be considered.

"I was thinking about what David was really passionate about," Hill said. "He was very proud to talk about Harper wherever we went."

Hill herself has a background in higher education. She is retired after 32 years at Northwestern University, where she was a senior lecturer and author. A member of the Harper College Educational Foundation since 2004, she currently serves as vice president of programs. Last year, she co-chaired the college's 40th anniversary gala, which raised about $500,000.

Shortly after Hill took her seat, she cast her vote on one of the college's more significant issues to come up in recent months. All the trustees approved placing a referendum on November's ballot in order to fund $154 million worth of repairs and renovations to campus facilities. She said her husband was concerned at ongoing cutbacks in state funding and wanted Harper to continue its strong fiscal position.

"I'm not quite up to speed yet but I studied all the materials and am impressed at the thoroughness Harper went about to find out what's important to the community," Hill said. "I look forward to helping to see plans for the future materialize."