Barbara Barrett, 25th secretary of the U.S. Air Force; owner of Triple Creek Ranch; U.S. ambassador to Finland; pilot; diplomat; mentor; space authority; global leader; and ASU champion is the recipient of the 2022 James W. Creasman Award of Excellence.

As the 25th secretary of the Air Force, Barbara M. Barrett stood-up the United States Space Force, the first new military service in 70 years. 

Heading the Department of the Air Force, Secretary Barrett organized, trained and equipped both the Air Force and Space Force, which comprised 697,000 active, Guard, Reserve, civilian airmen and Guardians. She directed a $205 billion annual budget to implement Air and Space Force strategy, policy, acquisitions, technology and personnel management to fulfill combatant commanders’ operational requirements.

Further serving her country she was ambassador to Finland, deputy administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and vice chairman of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board. She advised presidents and secretaries of state, Commerce and Defense on diplomacy, commerce, human rights and management practices.

As a legislative intern she was inspired by the exemplary public service of then-Arizona State Senator Sandra Day O’Connor. Today, ASU Local’s flagship facility in Washington, D.C., the ASU Barbara Barrett and Sandra Day O’Connor Washington Center, bears their names.

Barrett, the Honors College at ASU is named for Ambassador Barrett and her husband, Craig. Longtime advocates of ASU, the Barretts mentor, hire and support ASU students and alumni. 

She has been a strategic leader of companies and organizations focused on space, aeronautics, science, defense and diplomacy. Secretary Barrett chaired the Board of The Aerospace Corporation for four terms and served on the boards of RAND and California Institute of Technology, which operates NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She also was on the governing boards of Space Foundation, Hershey, New Piper Aircraft and the Smithsonian. She was president of the International Women’s Forum and member of the U.S.–Afghan Women's Council, where she founded Project Artemis, a Thunderbird program to train and mentor Afghan women entrepreneurs. She was CEO of the American Management Association and taught leadership as a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

An instrument-rated pilot, in 2009 she trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, and Kazakhstan, culminating in certification for space travel.