Eric Jones grew up on Madison’s southwest side, attending Falk Elementary, Toki Middle, and Memorial High School (Class of 2007). Now the supervisor for the Enzyme Purification and Formulation team at Illumina-Madison—a global leader in genetics and genomics—he can draw a clear line from where he started to where he is today.
“The science curriculum that I was exposed to at Memorial is a huge part of the reason I am where I am today,” Eric reflects. At Memorial, teachers like Ben Senson, the late George Bulovsky, Cynthia Keller, and Steve Guziewski helped him see that science is more than theory—it’s a powerful way to understand and engage with the world. “Taking ISP with Ben Senson was one of the first times where I got to see how all branches of science are interconnected,” he says. “I really consider that the first time where I was able to start putting together that science is more than just people in a lab.”
A pivotal moment came between his junior and senior years through the MMSD summer research internship. Eric worked in Dr. Ann Palmenberg’s lab at UW–Madison, studying Encephalomyocarditis Virus leader protein. “This was my first real exposure to biochemistry,” he says. “By the end of the summer, I already knew that I was going to major in Biochem when I went to college.” He followed through—graduating from UW–Madison with a degree in biochemistry in 2011.
After college, Eric’s first job was in high-potency pharmaceutical manufacturing at Millipore Sigma. The stakes were high, and the lessons from MMSD stuck with him. “In my first chemistry class Mr. Bulovsky taught us the 2 rules of a chemistry lab: Rule 1: Don’t get any of it on you! Rule 2: Know what you are doing,” Eric remembers. “I often heard those rules in my head when I was working in lab.” That mindset—of learning deeply, not just performing steps by rote—helped him avoid mistakes and stay safe in an intense working environment.
Eric’s education in Madison went beyond science. He placed third in the state in Extemporaneous Speaking in 2007 as part of Memorial’s Forensics team. “That, more than anything else in my life, prepared me to be an effective communicator in my current job,” he says. “Being able to absorb information and use it to craft a narrative in a short timeline is an invaluable skill when working with other teams during process development and troubleshooting.”
Today, Eric leads a team that produces the enzymes used in Illumina’s sequencing products. He recently returned to Memorial on April 24 as an “Illumina DNA Day” volunteer, assisting students with strawberry DNA extraction. While there, he enjoyed a full-circle moment when he reconnected with a familiar face—Steve Guziewski, now the school’s Learning Coordinator.
Eric lives in Madison with his wife Abby and their two sons. Outside of work, he’s a triathlete (with a particular love for biking), a vinyl record collector, and a youth soccer coach.
From science class to supervisor, Eric’s journey shows the impact of early support, strong educators, and the opportunity to explore big questions.
Madison’s public schools are proud to count Eric among their alumni!
