Christopher Tozzi

Christopher Tozzi serves as Senior Lecturer in Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), with additional roles as adjunct analyst at IDC contributing to IT industry trend reports and board member of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway preserving Capital Region industrial history.

His academic background includes:

• Ph.D. in History, Johns Hopkins University (2013)
• B.A. in History and French Literature, Cornell University (2008)

Tozzi specializes in the cultural and historical dimensions of technology, with award-winning research on free/open source software evolution and military service as a lens for national identity formation. His MIT Press book For Fun and Profit: A History of the Free and Open Source Software Revolution (2017) examines source code sharing's socioeconomic impact, while his University of Virginia Press monograph Nationalizing France's Army (2016) analyzes outsider integration in 18th-19th century French military forces. Current work includes a Springer-contracted book on developer advocacy co-authored with industry practitioners.

At RPI, he teaches "IT and Society," "History of Science and Technology," American history surveys, and Troy/RPI-focused local history courses. His freelance writing regularly appears in technology media covering software development practices and open source ecosystems, complementing his academic work with industry-facing analysis.