This year, the Delbarton Middle School relaunched its Alumni Middle School Speaker Series, welcoming Jim Petrucci ’82, P’10,’25, as the third guest of the season. Petrucci’s two sons Joe ’10 and Lorenzo Petrucci ’25 have kept him connected to Delbarton as both an alumnus and a parent.

Organized by Middle School Director Rick Cimino, the Speaker Series aims to inspire students to set goals, think ambitiously, and build essential skills early on. "Middle school is not too early to begin thinking about what one wants to do when one grows up," Cimino noted when he introduced the series last year.

Jim Petrucci founded J.G. Petrucci Co., Inc. in 1987, one year after graduating magna cum laude from Princeton where he co-captained the football team.  He has guided his company through 35 years of growth and a leadership in New Jersey and Pennsylvania real estate development and design-build construction as a major developer role of the Interstate 78 corridor.

Petrucci’s commitment to community support started early.  As a Delbarton junior he founded the School’s Big Brother Big Sisters program.  As a young businessman he launched an award winning program, Reading with Kids, that sends professionals into local elementary schools to read with school children. 

Petrucci’s company is dedicated to giving back to the communities it serves and for decades has partnered with other corporations to raise funds for the annual Iron Hill Charity Golf Open, an event that supports military personnel, veterans, and their families.  The Golf Open has raised more than $2 million dollars for veteran-focused nonprofits.

Petrucci was a Founding Director and Vice Chairman of Team Capital Bank (NJ and PA) which merged with Provident Bank in 2014.  He is a former Delbarton School Regent and a member of Delbarton’s Hall of Honor.  As Petrucci Family Foundation Trustee, he oversees the well-respected PFF Collection of African American Art www.pffcollection.com.  An honorary lifetime member of the NJ Chapter of the 101^st Airborne Association, Petrucci is also a member of the Philadelphia based Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI). 

While addressing our middle schoolers,  Petrucci mentioned that he used to speak with students at a prominent university but stopped because they did not ask him questions.  “Our boys asked such thoughtful questions that he was thoroughly impressed,” reports Cimino.

With the Alumni Middle School Speaker Series well underway, Delbarton’s middle schoolers continue to gain valuable insights from alumni like Jim Petrucci, who exemplify the power of goal setting, hard work and giving back.