Alumni Spotlight

Jennifer Fronczak

Operations Manager
Primorigen Biosciences LLC

Class of 2004

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When Jennifer Fronczak graduated in 1999 with a degree in biology from McAlister College, she became a full-time bench scientist at PanVera in Madison. After the company was acquired three times, she realized she may have reached the ceiling as a bench scientist with a bachelor of science degree.

"I thought about getting a Ph.D. but I didn't want to devote six years to a one-discipline path." Fronczak had decided that big corporations weren't the best fit for her. "I wanted to work for a smaller company where I could wear a lot of hats."

In 2002, she enrolled in the Master of Science in Biotechnology. "I really liked the part-science, part-business blend of disciplines. I wanted to be able to speak the language of many disciplines and take a leadership role in a company. It was what I needed to take
my career to the next step."

Fronczak, who also had experience at early stage products research at Bellbrook Labs and at the large research product firm of Invitrogen Corporation, looks back on the M.S. program and says it helped her in her current role of operations manager of Primorigin Biosciences LLC, a start-up company located in the MGE Innovation Center in University Research Park in Madison.

In June of last year, Primorigin, a company that develops and provides technical support for cell therapy research products, was launched. The following month Fronczak became employee number two.

Today, as a leader in a growing company --it now has seven full-time employees, Fronczak says, "The M.S. Biotechnology Program put me ahead of the curve."

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