Water.org Co-Founder Gary White Honored with 2025 Hoover Medal

White joins a distinguished list of past honorees for more than 30 years of expanding access to safe water and sanitation — one of the defining challenges of our time

STOCKHOLM, Aug. 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Gary White, co-founder and CEO of Water.org, has received the 2025 Hoover Medal, one of the engineering profession's highest honors, awarded by the Hoover Medal Board. White will be presented with the award by Professor Joel Burken, Professor at Missouri S&T, during the Stockholm International Water Institute's (SIWI) World Water Week Closing Ceremony on Thursday August 27 from 4:00 – 5:00pm CEST. He will also be honored at the American Society of Civil Engineers conference in Philadelphia, March 1-5, 2027.

The Hoover Medal is awarded annually to an engineer whose work has improved humanity through technical achievement and service. White was recognized for more than 30 years of applying that mindset to the global water crisis, helping people living in poverty access to the infrastructure and financing they need to access safe water and sanitation.

White is the seventy-sixth recipient of the Hoover Medal since the first award to Herbert Hoover in 1930. The Medal is awarded by a board representing five engineering organizations: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Additional past recipients include Dwight D. Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Steve Wozniak, and David Packard — placing White among a small group recognized for using engineering to serve the public good on a global scale. With few water and sanitation engineers among past recipients, White's recognition marks a notable moment for the field as much as for Water.org and underscores the growing importance of water and sanitation as a global development and economic priority. White earned three degrees in civil and environmental engineering, two from Missouri University of Science and Technology and one from the University of North Carolina.

"I'm deeply honored to receive the Hoover Medal and to be included among the engineers who've received it before me," said Gary White, co-founder and CEO of Water.org. "I started my career as an engineer working on water projects in Latin America, and it was there I first saw what it takes for families to access something as essential as safe water. That experience has driven everything I've built since."

White's engineering career began with water projects in Latin America, where he saw firsthand what limited access to safe water meant for families' health, income, and time. Years later, while working in India, he met a woman paying a moneylender 125% interest just to afford a household toilet — a moment that crystallized the idea that would become WaterCredit: using small, affordable loans, rather than direct aid alone, to help families finance their own water and sanitation solutions. In 1990, White founded WaterPartners, which later merged with Matt Damon's H2O Africa Foundation in 2009 to form Water.org.

"Gary never looked at water as just an engineering problem. He looked at it as a human one," said Matt Damon, co-founder of Water.org. "He asked a different question: not just how do we build more infrastructure for safe water, but how do we make sure people can actually access that water. That shift — and the work of countless partners who believed in it — is why, today, 92 million people have gained access to safe water or sanitation through Water.org's solutions."

Over the past three decades, White has helped build Water.org from a small U.S.-based nonprofit into a global organization led by experts working in the 15 countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Today, the organization offers a portfolio of smart solutions that break down the barriers between people living in poverty and access to safe water and sanitation: through WaterCredit, Water.org enables small, affordable loans for household access; through WaterEquity, it uses impact investing to bring in more capital; and through WaterConnect, it develops infrastructure to expand reach. To date, Water.org has helped empower more than 92 million people with access to safe water or sanitation — the result of thousands of team members, partners, funders, and communities working together to advance practical solutions at scale.

"The Hoover Medal is reserved for engineers whose work has changed the trajectory of a global challenge, and Gary White's is exactly that kind of achievement," said David Soukup, Secretary of the Hoover Board. "Over more than three decades, White pioneered a model for water and sanitation financing that has since been adopted across the sector and changed millions of lives. Few water and sanitation engineers have received this recognition, and this year's Hoover Medal Board was proud to award it to someone whose work exemplifies what the medal was created to honor."

About the Hoover Medal
The Hoover Medal is one of the engineering profession's highest humanitarian honors. Established in 1929, it is named for its first recipient, engineer Herbert Hoover, who led relief efforts that brought food, clothing and supplies to tens of millions of people in Europe during and after World War I. It recognizes engineers who have provided outstanding civic, humanitarian or public service beyond their engineering careers and professional duties. The medal is awarded jointly by five major engineering societies, the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The focus is not just technical innovation alone, but rather humanitarian leadership, civic engagement, philanthropy, education, public service and other activities that improve society.

About Water.org
Water.org is a global nonprofit organization that has positively transformed more than 92 million lives around the world through access to safe water and sanitation. Founded by Gary White and Matt Damon, Water.org pioneers market-driven solutions to the global water crisis. For more than 30 years, we have helped give women hope, children health, and families bright futures. Learn more at https://water.org.

Media Contacts
Cate McGeady, Senior Public Relations Manager, Water.org
[email protected] | 978-495-2029

David Soukup, Secretary of the Hoover Board
[email protected] | 212-591-73974

SOURCE Water.org