David A. Hounshell
Roderick Professor of Technology and Social Change, Department of Social & Decision Sciences, Dietrich College
Contact
Department of Social and Decision Sciences
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- Porter Hall 219G
- 412-268-1019
Department of Social and Decision Sciences
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Bio
- Carnegie Mellon 1991-2017
Trained in both engineering and history, Professor Hounshell studies innovation at the intersection of science, technology, and industry. His work includes extensive studies of industrial research and development, the development of manufacturing technology in the United States, and the role of independent inventors and entrepreneurs in the development of technology.
Hounshell is the author of the award-winning books, From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, and (with John Kenly Smith, Jr.) Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont: Du Pont R&D, 1902-1980. He is currently working with Erica Fuchs and Hassan Khan on a study of the semiconductor industry, U.S. technology policy, and cooperative research at the end of Moore's Law, among other topics.
Hounshell is the author of the award-winning books, From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States, and (with John Kenly Smith, Jr.) Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont: Du Pont R&D, 1902-1980. He is currently working with Erica Fuchs and Hassan Khan on a study of the semiconductor industry, U.S. technology policy, and cooperative research at the end of Moore's Law, among other topics.
Education
- Ph.D. (History), University of Delaware, 1978
- M.A. (History), University of Delaware, 1975
- B.S. (Electrical Engineering), Southern Methodist University, 1972
Publications
- D. Hounshell, "Measuring the Return on Investment in R&D: Voices from the Past; Visions of the Future," in T. Dunning (ed.), Assessing the Value of Research in the Chemical Sciences [provisional title], Board of Chemical Sciences and Technology, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC., 1998.
- D. Hounshell, "The Medium is the Message, or How Context Matters: The RAND Corporation Builds an Economics of Innovation, 1946-1962," in T. P. Hughes and A. Hughes (eds.), Systems, Experts, and Computers, MIT Press and the Dibner Institute, 2000.
- D. Hounshell, "Assets, Organizations, Strategies, and Traditions: Organizational Capabilities and Constraints in the Remaking of Ford Motor Company, 1946-1961," in P. Temin, N. Lamoreaux and D. Raff (eds.), Creating Asymmetries by Actions Between Firms, University of Chicago Press and the National Bureau of Economic Research, Chicago, 1998.