Illumina Names New President: Francis deSouza

By Bio-IT World Staff

November 11, 2013 | Illumina today announced that Francis deSouza will take on the role of President, reporting to CEO Jay Flatley. deSouza will lead Illumina's business units and the core functions responsible for envisioning, developing and producing the company’s products. He will join the team in December.

deSouza has nearly two decades of technology experience, currently serving as President of Products & Services at Symantec Corporation, where he is responsible for driving the vision for Symantec’s market-leading portfolio, and is part of the executive team setting the company’s strategic direction. He was previously founder and CEO of IMlogic (acquired by Symantec) and Flash Communications (acquired by Microsoft).

“Francis' broad technology background, his experience in providing complex technology solutions, and his roles in scaling and leading both entrepreneurial startups and large enterprises make him ideal for the role,” said Flatley in a statement. “We are very excited to have Francis join our team as he brings a unique combination of global expertise, business acumen and technology depth.”

deSouza holds a number of patents in computer security, and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Read Illumina's announcement.