Legacy of Booth Alumnus Carries across Expansive Network
Justin Marcucci, ’05 and his wife Stephanie—who previously served as associate director, marketing and communications for the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship—were long-time members of the Booth community and great supporters of the school.
This past spring, a number of websites, including a memorial fund, were established to remember Justin, who passed away unexpectedly due to a rare case of idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
“He definitely felt that many of his achievements came from the knowledge he gained while at Chicago Booth and from the network of alumni he got to know there,” said Jared Marcucci, Justin’s brother.
As a student, Justin studied entrepreneurship and finance. He also competed in the New Venture Challenge, placing third in the business case competition along with cofounders Peter Shannon, ’05; Jon Mano, ’05; and Oliver Banz, ’05, for Crazy Waters, Inc.
In his most recent role, post-graduation, Marcucci worked for eBay in San Jose, Calif., as general manager for Fashion Vault, a component of eBay Marketplaces that focuses on clothing, shoes, and accessories. According to his brother, Marcucci’s career was closely linked to his time at Booth.
“Justin knew he wanted to work in Silicon Valley in a start-up business in the tech industry,” he said. “His MBA from Booth catapulted his career toward his life goals in business. Justin seemed to always be advocating for the university and felt very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend Chicago Booth.”
In fact, it was Justin’s expansive professional and alumni network—bolstered by his time at Booth—that first motivated Jared to create the numerous websites in his brother’s honor. Hoping to preserve memories for Justin’s family, friends, and colleagues around the globe—including numerous contacts from his time working in London and Prague—Jared created an archive of photos, videos, and a blog that raises awareness about the medical condition that led to Justin’s tragic death.
“I thought that the many people who knew and loved Justin would benefit from having a website that they could visit for updates and to learn more about what had happened,” he explained. The blog itself received more than 10,000 hits in the first few weeks and continues to draw increasing numbers of visitors.
An educational fund for Marcucci’s children—three sons, Grant, Kellen, and Lennox; and daughter, Johnna, who was born in August—has been created by his colleagues at eBay and is currently linked to the numerous websites.
For more information and to learn more about the memorial fund, please refer to the websites below.
—Kate Fratar
A Paypal education fund for Marcucci’s children has been started by his colleagues at Ebay. Information for making a contribution is available on the blog.
