Alumnus of the Year 2013: Jon Lane OBE (1979)

Jon Lane (1976) began his career at Ove Arup, then moved to WaterAid in 1987, where he applied his professional skills as a civil engineer to help poor people in developing countries secure ready access to water supplies. From 1994 to 1999 he was Director of WaterAid, during which time the organisation received the Stockholm Water Prize, and he was awarded the OBE.

He subsequently moved to the Water Supply and Sanitation Council and during his time there, helped WSSCC to change its strategic focus away from water supply to sanitation and hygiene. This was done in part through the launch of the world’s first global financing instrument for sanitation and hygiene work, the Global Sanitation Fund. He retired in August 2012 after 5 years as Executive Director. 

He continues to work in sanitation and water for developing countries as a consultant and, together with his wife, manages the seed company that they founded in Malawi, which now produces a significant part of the seeds used by the whole country, as well as being the largest employer in a remote region.

Watch Jon Lane's speech at half-way hall, talking about his life and work with WaterAid. (Skip ahead to 1 min 20 secs).

Alumnus of the Year 2013: Jon Lane OBE from Clare Alumni on Vimeo.