Creative direction
President Nicole Hurd and Crayola’s president and CEO Pete Ruggiero P’20,’25 meet during Founders’ Week to applaud innovation and acknowledge Easton on the rise.
Photograph By Jaquan Alston; Illustration By Antonio Pinna
NH: You have two children who graduated from Lafayette. What are you most proud of in terms of their experience here?
PR: Lafayette teaches students to think creatively. It’s a different mindset, one of left-and-right-brain thinking that is so unique.
NH: Your children had some incredible faculty members such as Justin Corvino, Mark Crain, Mike McGuire … What was that mentorship like?
PR: My wife, Lisa, and I are so grateful for that experience. The professors take such ownership in the success of their students. This is a special place.
NH: Another special place for you is right down the street at Crayola, where you’ve been for 29 years.
PR: The global brand Crayola means so much to so many people through creativity, smiles, fun, color, and family.
NH: Crayola is such a complementary brand to Lafayette. We have academic rigor on this campus, and we do it with joy and creativity.
PR: There’s no greater time where the need for creative thinking and collaboration is so necessary for success. The speed and pace of business is only accelerating in this world.
NH: As a trustee, you’ve been on some committees that really impact the stewardship of the College—facilities and infrastructure, audit, financial policy. How do you feel about where we are at this moment?
PR: The recent strong credit ratings by Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s are something that people need to be really proud of at the College. At Crayola, we say this is ‘distinguished financial performance.’ We work through the challenges, and we get to the right place.
NH: Like any great brand, or any great institution, you keep innovating and thinking about how to be better.
PR: We launched Crayola Studios in 2023 and the Hollywood producers who visit stay at the Lafayette Inn. We give them tours of the manufacturing facility, the secret lab two minutes from campus on Bushkill Creek, and the Crayola Experience.
NH: What does it mean to be doing this global work from Easton?
PR: Easton is a great city that’s transformed, and we have the same transformation happening at this College. After being on the board for nine years, I know the vision for the College’s future. The next century is so much better than the first two—and the first two were rather remarkable.
Get To Know Pete Ruggiero
Ruggiero studied accounting at Villanova University before earning an MBA from Lehigh University. Since joining Crayola in 1997, he’s worked in operations, sourcing, supply chain, and European business roles; Ruggiero was named president and CEO in 2024. He’s been a trustee member at the College since 2017.
Expertise
In January, Ruggiero was added to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s board of directors. Noteworthy Ruggiero was key to the College’s collaboration with Crayola and custom Bicentennial crayons.
In The Family
Daughter Katrina Ruggiero Spigner ’20, now at Deloitte, studied policy studies and economics and played volleyball at Lafayette. Son Daniel Ruggiero ’25 majored in civil engineering, minored in music, and is pursuing a master’s in geotechnical engineering.
Last Word
“We never forget where we’re from, no matter where we are in the world.”
