The Miami Herald Silver Knight Awards is one of most highly regarded student awards programs in the United States. The Awards program recognizes outstanding individuals and leaders who have maintained good grades and have applied their knowledge and talents to contribute service to their schools and communities. The Silver Knight Awards program was instituted at the Miami Herald in 1959 by John S. Knight, past publisher of The Miami Herald, founder and editor emeritus of Knight-Ridder Newspapers and winner of the 1968 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.