Young Alumni Award
The Young Alumni Award is presented annually to a member of the alumni community who graduated in the last 15 years and whose professional accomplishments, service to alma mater, or selfless and caring work to benefit society are distinctive.
2026 Recipient
Richie Hyden '11
Richie Hyden '11 was a member of Bucknell's water polo team — an experience that shaped both his competitiveness and discipline. After graduating, he continued playing professionally, competing in both Spain and Australia. The experience gave him a global perspective early on and reinforced his drive to push beyond traditional paths.
When Hyden returned to the U.S., he teamed up with a close friend from high school to co-found a video recommendations startup, taking him to Los Angeles and into the heart of the media and technology world.
That company became IRIS.TV, where Hyden and team initially built a SaaS platform that helped media companies like Fox, News Corp and NBCUniversal better recommend and distribute video content.
He relocated to New York City to focus on growing the business across both coasts. When the industry began to shift and data privacy regulations started to reshape digital advertising, the company made a deliberate pivot. It transitioned from a video recommendations platform into a programmatic advertising data company, focused on enabling advertisers to more effectively target and measure ads within television and streaming environments.
In 2024 and after running the business independently for 13 years, IRIS.TV was acquired by Viant Technology, a publicly traded ad-tech company, where Hyden continues to work today. He now leads the connected TV and streaming audio business, partnering with leading media companies like Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Roku to help power advertising experiences for more than 2,000 brand clients.
Hyden lives in Wayne, Pennsylvania with his wife, Meghan Fitzpatrick '13, and his two children, Chase and Quinn.