The American Computer & Robotics Museum is a 501c3 non-profit Montana corporation founded in 1990 to promote technological literacy and computer education.

It all started with a calculator.

Back in the early 1980s, George Keremedjiev was visiting Florida for his consulting business, Tecknow Education Services. George had contracted with a manufacturing firm to provide technical advice for streamlining their metal-forming operations, and during a break from this work, he wandered into a small antiques shop. There among the bric-a-brac, he saw an old machine on display and noticed that it was mislabeled: the shop owner thought it was a check printer, but George correctly identified it as a Brunsviga mechanical calculator. He purchased it and brought it home, all the while thinking what a shame it was that people weren’t more familiar with this early calculating device, didn’t understand its historical significance, and weren’t aware of its impact on invention and innovation. 

This calculator was the first piece in what grew to be a comprehensive and significant collection that forms the core of the museum today. George and his wife Barbara officially opened the American Computer & Robotics Museum in Bozeman, Montana in 1990. Today, Barbara and a committed Board of Directors are working tirelessly to expand the collection, design compelling exhibits, and promote their educational vision to museum visitors from around the world.

In an era characterized by the accelerating pace of technological change and the increasing integration of computers into our daily lives, the museum’s mission has never been more relevant. Learning about the past helps us to live critically in the present, and a deep understanding of the underpinnings of today’s scientific and technological innovations is essential as we set about designing the pathways that will determine the course of our collective future.