Alberto Ibargüen

Alberto Ibargüen, president, CEO and a trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will present the Knight International Journalism Awards at the 2015 ICFJ Awards Dinner.

Ibargüen has served as president of Knight Foundation since 2005. With Ibargüen at the helm, Knight Foundation has led the transformation of the news industry by encouraging newsrooms’ digital evolution and by seeding innovative ideas for engaging and informing the public. Under his leadership, Knight Foundation launched the pioneering Knight News Challenge in 2006 and the Knight Prototype Fund in 2012.

Before joining Knight Foundation, Ibarguen was publisher of the Miami Herald and its sister publication, El Nuevo Herald. During his tenure, the Miami Herald won three Pulitzer Prizes and El Nuevo Herald won Spain’s Ortega y Gasset Prize for excellence in journalism.

After earning a bachelor of arts degree in history from Wesleyan University, Ibargüen served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Venezuela and staffer in Colombia. After graduating from University of Pennsylvania law school, Ibargüen practiced law in Hartford, Conn., before beginning his journalism career at The Hartford Courant.

For his work protecting the safety of journalists in Latin America, Ibargüen received a Maria Moors Cabot Special Citation from Columbia University. He was also the recipient of the 2014 John W. Gardner Leadership Award. He holds honorary degrees from Wesleyan University, The George Washington University, University of Miami, Mercer University and Stephens College.