Eric S. Hintz, PhD is an historian with the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. He curates exhibits (including Places of Invention, which opened 1 July 2015); produces the Center’s annual symposium series; coordinates its fellowship and grant programs; and assists in the collection of historically significant artifacts and documents. 

Eric received his PhD in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2010.  His research interests include the history of science and technology and US business and economic history; he specializes in the history of invention, innovation, and R&D. He has discussed his work on MSNBC and National Public Radio; his publications have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Technology & Culture, the Business History Review, Enterprise & Society, and Research-Technology Management. With Matthew Wisnioski and Marie Stettler Kleine, he is co-editor of Does America Need More Innovators? (MIT Press, 2019), a critical exploration of the growing imperative to train and equip a nation of innovators.  He is completing a monograph, American Independent Inventors in an Era of Corporate R&D (MIT Press, 2021), which considers the changing fortunes of American independent inventors from 1890-1950, an era of expanding corporate R&D.