::The Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies::

People

Dr. Steve Usselman

Name

Steve Usselman, PhD

Current Affiliation

Center for Paper Business and Industry Studies (CPBIS); and School of History, Technology and Society, Georgia Tech

Current Position

Associate Director, Research, CPBIS; Associate Professor at the School of History, Technology, and Science, Georgia Institute of Technology (GT)

Office Address

School of History, Technology, and Society, Georgia Institute of Technology, D.M. Smith Bldg. room 315,
685 Cherry Street
Atlanta, GA 30332-0345

E-Mail Address

Steve.Usselman@cpbis.gatech.edu

Phone Numbers

School of History Office:	404-894-8718
School of History Fax:	404-894-0535

General Background

Steve Usselman is a historian of business, technology, and American political economy. He studies the dynamics of innovation and industrial change in the United States since the early nineteenth century. His book, Regulating Railroad Innovation: Business, Technology, and Politics in America, 1840-1920 (Cambridge, 2002), synthesizes one prominent vein of his research. It received the Ellis W. Hawley Prize, awarded annually by the Organization of American Historians to the best book published in the history of political economy, politics, or institutions of the United States, domestic or international, from the Civil War to the present. Steve Usselman has also published numerous articles on that subject in journals such as Technology and Culture and Business History Review, one of which was awarded the Newcomen Prize. Professor Usselman has also published extensively on the rise and development of the computer industry and is currently completing a book on that topic. His study "IBM and Its Imitators" received the Newcomen Award for excellence in business history.

With support from CPBIS, Professor Usselman has embarked on a study of a third industry: pulp and paper in the twentieth century. As with his previous work, this project examines the interactions among technical innovation, business organization and strategy, and government policy. He is especially interested in documenting how antitrust law, intellectual property rights, and environmental regulation have influenced innovation, organization, and strategy.

Professor Usselman has coordinated graduate programs at UNC--Charlotte and at Georgia Tech's School of History, Technology, and Society. Through collaborations with colleagues in several other units, he has worked to foster interdisciplinary education at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has also pioneered in the use of new media to create graduate seminars that bring together students from multiple institutions. In 2000, he received the E. Roe Stampps award for excellence in teaching from Georgia Tech's Ivan Allen College.