While Oak Knoll laid the educational foundation for Richard Romano II ’74 (LS), he is solely responsible for all the foundations he’s experienced since. Over his career, he has constructed successful businesses from scratch and literally laid foundations through his large-scale building and development endeavors.

Perhaps his fondness for laying foundations was influenced by his mother. As an Oak Knoll staff member, Barbara Romano was credited — alongside Oak Knoll’s Athletic Director at the time, Jerry Butler — with creating Oak Knoll’s first summer day camp, now known as Summer Adventures. As a Lower School student, Richard Romano recalls attending the camp as being one of his fondest memories of the school. Even after matriculating to Delbarton, he returned to Oak Knoll to work as a counselor at the camp. 

Following Delbarton, Romano attended Marquette University in Wisconsin, where he met his wife. After college, they moved back to New Jersey, and Romano started his own home renovation business, mainly overseeing the renovation of vacation homes on the Jersey Shore. In the early years of his marriage, Romano began to hear rumors that the government might rescind the tax break on second homes, so he transitioned to a more risk-averse position in sales at AT&T and then in product management for a company in Bedminster.

Eventually, he could no longer ignore the entrepreneurial urge. Romano founded a direct marketing company that grew to employ more than 1,500 employees, had offices at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, and provided phonebank work for young actors in Hollywood looking for income on their journey to stardom. Rather than rest on his laurels, he reignited his foundational passions and sold that business to re-enter the development field. Today, he cultivates large-scale development projects, acquiring land, presenting projects to local communities, and then developing condos and townhouses.

“Everything in life has an impact on us,” explained Romano, in reference to his entrepreneurial spirit. “Certainly, some of the people I worked with, interacted with, and was taught by at Oak Knoll influenced me, but I was kind of always a renegade. I tend to see some opportunity, explore, and try to develop it.” 

Oak Knoll’s most significant impact on Romano was providing him with lifelong friendships. 

“Some of the classmates and friends I made at Oak Knoll are my dearest friends today,” he said. “When we get together, it’s like we never were apart. We pick up exactly where we left off. If somebody needs something, we get together. It’s a very close-knit, strong bond that’s lasted a lifetime.”