WaterAid CEO awarded Cranfield honour

Barbara Frost has led WaterAid’s projects to improve drinking water, hygiene and sanitation for poor communities in Asia and Africa since 2005.

Last year, WaterAid delivered safe water to over one million people and improved sanitation to over two million people.

Cranfield has worked closely with WaterAid on a variety of projects. The university has carried out research for WaterAid, has student volunteering programmes and several Cranfield alumni and staff have gone on to work in WaterAid organisations throughout the world.

Cranfield University’s head of the School of Applied Sciences and Edie Awards judge, Professor Tom Stephenson, said: “Every year we select a small number of individuals to receive honorary degrees of the University.

“We are recognising Barbara Frost for her outstanding contribution to the water and the charity sectors, and as a living example of how the university brings research into real world situations in addressing challenges facing people in developing nations on a global scale.”

Barbara Frost has a strong background in the voluntary and international development sector. She has worked for organisations including Action on Disability and Development, ActionAid, Save the Children and Oxfam.

She said: “It is gratifying to receive this degree from a university that is recognised for its contribution to the water sector.

“I am proud of the links we have with universities such as Cranfield because these partnerships assist us in achieving our goal of providing the basic rights to safe drinking water and improved sanitation to as many people as possible as the first big step out of poverty.”

Alison Brown