Editing American Computer & Robotics Museum

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{{Infobox museum
 |name             = American Computer & Robotics Museum
 |native_name      = 
 |native_name_lang = 
 |image            = American Computer Museum.JPG
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 |coordinates      = {{coord|45.65927|N|111.0550|W|display=inline,title}}
 |established      = May 1990
 |dissolved        = 
 |location         = 2023 Stadium Drive, Suite 1-A, [[Bozeman]], [[Montana]]
 |type             = Computer museum
 |collection       = 
 |visitors         = 
 |director         = 
 |president        =
 |curator          = 
 |publictransit    = 
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 |website          = {{URL|www.acrmuseum.org}}
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The '''American Computer & Robotics Museum''' (ACRM), formerly known as the '''American Computer Museum''', is a museum of the history of computing, [[Communication protocol|communications]], [[artificial intelligence]] and [[robotics]] that is located in [[Bozeman]], [[Montana]], [[United States]].

The museum's mission is "...&nbsp;to explore the past and imagine the future of the Information Age through thought-provoking exhibits, innovative storytelling, and the bold exchange of ideas."<ref name=ACRMmission>American Computer and Robotics Museum Mission & Vision. Accessed July 23, 2021. https://acrmuseum.org/mission-vision.</ref>

==History of the museum==
The American Computer & Robotics Museum was founded by George and Barbara Keremedjiev as a [[non-profit organization]] in May 1990 in [[Bozeman, Montana]].<ref name=ACRM>American Computer and Robotics Museum. Accessed July 23, 2021. https://acrmuseum.org/.</ref> It is likely the oldest extant museum dedicated to the history of computers in the world.<ref name=ComputerMuseum>"The Computer Museum". Computerhistory.org. Computer History Museum. Retrieved July 23, 2021.</ref> The museum's artifacts trace over 4,000 years of computing history and information technology.<ref name=Municipal>Balogh, Ray. “American Computer and Robotics Museum, Bozeman, Montana.” The Municipal. The Municipal, June 25, 2021. http://www.themunicipal.com/2021/06/american-computer-and-robotics-museum-bozeman-montana/.</ref> George Keremedjiev passed away in November 2018, but his wife Barbara, the Museum Board, and the museum's Executive Director continue working toward his goals to "collect, preserve, interpret, and display the artifacts and history of the information age."<ref name=Publika>Publika, Liz. “The American Computer &amp; Robotics Museum: Interview with Executive Director, Eleanor Barker.” ARTpublika Magazine. ARTpublika Magazine, July 9, 2020. https://www.artpublikamag.com/post/the-american-computer-robotics-museum-interview-with-executive-director-eleanor-barker.</ref>

==Exhibits on display==
The museum has several permanent exhibits on display. The Benchmarks of the Information Age provides an overview of information technology from roughly 1860 B.C.E. with the development of ancient writing systems up to 1976 C.E. with the Apple I personal computer. Another significant exhibit is the NASA Apollo program, including NASA artifacts on loan from the [[National Air and Space Museum]], such as an [[Apollo Guidance Computer]] and a watch worn on the Moon by Apollo 15 Commander David Scott, as well as the last surviving mainframe from the Apollo 11 mission, a [[UNIVAC 418]]-II. Another exhibit includes a comprehensive collection of early personal computers like the [[Altair 8800]], [[IMSAI 8080]], [[Commodore PET]], [[Sol-20]], [[Apple II]], [[Apple III]], [[Apple Lisa]], [[Apple Mac]], [[KIM-1]], and [[SYM-1]]. The museum has several more exhibits detailing [[Enigma machine|Enigma]] codebreaking during World War II, neural computing and artificial intelligence, office and communications technology, robotics and automation with Hollywood artifacts, video games, and the future of computing with an eye toward quantum computing. The museum's current special exhibit is the Vintage Mac Museum, a private collection recently donated to the ACRM by the family of collector Adam Rosen.

==Awards==

In 1994 the American Computer Museum won the ''Dibner Award for Excellence in Museum Exhibits'' from the  [[Society for the History of Technology]].<ref name=Dibner>“The Dibner Award.” Society for the History of Technology (SHOT), May 1, 2021. https://www.historyoftechnology.org/about-us/awards-prizes-and-grants/the-dibner-award/.</ref>

Beginning in 1997, The ''American Computer Museum'' has presented the Stibitz-Wilson awards with support from [[Montana State University]]. The  George R. Stibitz Computer & Communications Innovator Award is named for Dr. [[George R. Stibitz]], who built the first electric binary adding unit in 1937. The Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Innovator Award is named for Harvard Emeritus Professor Dr. [[Edward O. Wilson]].<ref name=Municipal /> In 2011, the museum formalized a new category of award called Lifetime Achievement.

{{div col}}

=== Stibitz Award winners ===
{{Plainlist}}
* '''1997''' – [[Arthur Burks]], Chuan Chu, [[Jack Kilby]], [[Jerry Merryman]], James Van Tassel, Maury Irvine, [[Eldon Hall]], [[Ted Hoff]], [[Federico Faggin]]
* '''1998''' – [[Ed Roberts (computer engineer)|Ed Roberts]], [[Doug Engelbart]]
* '''1999''' – James Harris, [[Vinton G. Cerf]], [[Robert E. Kahn]]
* '''2000''' – [[Steve Wozniak]], [[Tim Berners-Lee]], [[Ray Tomlinson]]
* '''2001''' – Ted Hoff, Federico Faggin and [[Stan Mazor]] (together)
* '''2002''' – [[Ralph Baer]], [[Martin Cooper (inventor)|Martin Cooper]], [[Leroy Hood]], Klein Gilhousen, [[James Russell (inventor)|James Russell]], Jon Titus
* '''2005''' – [[Ross Perot]], [[Paul Baran]], [[John Blankenbaker]]
* '''2006''' – [[Edward O. Wilson]]<ref name="MSU2014"/>
* '''2010''' – [[Barbara Liskov]], [[Max Mathews]], [[Steve Sasson]]<ref name="MSU2010">{{cite web|url=http://www.montana.edu/news/8834/science-s-big-thinkers-at-msu-on-oct-7 |title=Science's big thinkers at MSU on Oct. 7 |website=[[Montana State University]] News Service|date=September 24, 2010 |accessdate=September 7, 2016}}</ref>
* '''2012''' – [[Robert Metcalfe]], [[Vic Hayes]]
* '''2013''' – [[Walt Disney]] (posthumously awarded), [[Chuck Hull]], [[John Henry Holland]],<ref name="MSU2013">{{cite web|url=http://www.montana.edu/news/12161/five-pioneers-in-technology-biodiversity-to-receive-stibitz-wilson-awards-oct-3 |title=Five pioneers in technology, biodiversity to receive Stibitz, Wilson awards Oct. 3 |website=[[Montana State University]] News Service|date=September 26, 2013 |accessdate=September 7, 2016}}</ref> Jean B. Sweeney<ref name="MSU2013"/>
* '''2014''' – [[Eric Horvitz]], [[Douglas Hofstadter]], [[Hans Moravec]], [[Edward Feigenbaum]], David Andes, [[Cynthia Breazeal]]<ref name="MSU2014">{{cite web|url=http://www.montana.edu/news/15059/ten-pioneers-in-technology-biodiversity-to-receive-stibitz-wilson-awards-oct-1 |title=Ten pioneers in technology, biodiversity to receive Stibitz, Wilson awards Oct. 1  |website=[[Montana State University]] News Service|date=September 23, 2014 |accessdate=September 7, 2016}}</ref>
* '''2015''' – [[David Ferrucci]], Robert Gunderson<ref name="MSU2015">{{cite web|url=http://www.montana.edu/news/15714/pioneers-in-technology-biodiversity-to-receive-stibitz-wilson-awards-oct-2 |title=Pioneers in technology, biodiversity to receive Stibitz, Wilson awards Oct. 2  |website=[[Montana State University]] News Service|date=September 11, 2015 |accessdate=September 7, 2016}}</ref>
* '''2016''' – [[Alan Turing]] (posthumously awarded), [[Joseph Desch]], [[Mary Shaw (computer scientist)|Mary Shaw]]<ref name="MSU2016">{{cite web|url=http://www.montana.edu/news/16421/pioneers-in-technology-biodiversity-to-receive-stibitz-wilson-awards-oct-7 |title=Pioneers in technology, biodiversity to receive Stibitz, Wilson awards Oct. 7  |website=[[Montana State University]] News Service|date=September 30, 2016 |accessdate=December 20, 2017}}</ref>
* '''2017''' – [[Jennifer Doudna]], [[Michelle Simmons]], Mark Ritter, Rufus Cone, [[Jerry M. Chow]], [[Jay Gambetta]]<ref name=MSU2017>MSU News Service. “Computer and Biology Pioneers to Be Honored Dec. 1 at MSU.” MSU News. Montana State University, November 13, 2017. https://www.montana.edu/news/17275.</ref>
* '''2018''' – [[Donna Dubinsky]], [[Bonnie J. Dunbar]]<ref name=MSU2018>MSU News Service. “Computer and Biology Pioneers to Be Honored Sept. 21 at MSU.” MSU News. Montana State University, September 5, 2018. https://www.montana.edu/news/17955/computer-and-biology-pioneers-to-be-honored-sept-21-at-msu.</ref>
{{endplainlist}}

=== Wilson Award winners ===
{{Plainlist}}
* '''2009''' – [[Ignacio Rodriguez-Iturbe]], [[Steve Running]], [[Michael Soulé]], David Ward
* '''2010''' – [[Sir Alec Jeffreys]], [[Lynn Margulis]], [[David Quammen]]<ref name="MSU2010" />
* '''2011''' – Jim Lotimer,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stewart |first1=Monte |title=Engineer Jim Lotimer made devices that revealed the secret lives of elephants and other creatures |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-engineer-jim-lotimer-made-devices-that-revealed-the-secret-lives-of/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=25 June 2023 |date=10 October 2022 |quote=In 2011, Mr. Lotimer received the Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Technology Pioneer award ...}}</ref> [[John Kress]], Peter Belhumeur, David Jacobs<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.umiacs.umd.edu/people/djacobs |title=David Jacobs |website=[[University of Maryland]] Institute for Advanced Computer Studies |accessdate=June 1, 2016}}</ref><ref name="MSU2011" />
* '''2012''' – [[Paul Anastas]], [[May Berenbaum]],<ref name="MSU2011"/> [[Gary Strobel]]
* '''2013''' – [[Frans de Waal]]
* '''2014''' – [[Rebecca D. Costa]], [[Dorothy Hinshaw Patent]], Cathy Whitlock, [[John Charles Priscu]]<ref name="MSU2014"/>
* '''2015''' – [[Janine Benyus]], Kjetil Våge, [[Cheetah Conservation Fund#Dr. Laurie Marker|Laurie Marker]]<ref name="MSU2015"/>
* '''2016''' – Dan Wenk<ref name="MSU2016"/>
* '''2017''' – [[Jennifer Doudna]], [[John Heminway]]<ref name=MSU2017 />
* '''2018''' – [[Diana Six]], Andone C. Lavery, [[Bonnie J. Dunbar]]<ref name=MSU2018 />
{{endplainlist}}

===Lifetime Achievement Award Winners===
{{Plainlist}}
* '''2011''' – [[Federico Faggin]]<ref name="MSU2011">{{cite web|url=http://www.montana.edu/news/10253/father-of-biodiversity-edward-o-wilson-to-present-world-s-leading-inventors-and-scientists-with-awards-at-msu-on-oct-6 |title="Father of Biodiversity," Edward O. Wilson to present world's leading inventors and scientists with awards at MSU on Oct. 6 |website=[[Montana State University]] News Service|date=September 21, 2011 |accessdate=September 7, 2016}}</ref>
* '''2017''' – [[Jonathan Titus]]
{{endplainlist}}

===Stibitz-Wilson Awards===
{{Plainlist}}
* '''2022''' - [[Paula Apsell]], [[J. Craig Venter]], [[Steve Wozniak]]
* '''2023''' - [[Sylvia Earle]], [[Nature (TV program)]], [[Gregory L. Robinson]]
* '''2024''' - [[Maya Ajmera]], [[Charles Limb]], Dr. Russell Taylor, [[Irving Weissman]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Annual Stibitz-Wilson Awards to honor ‘visionaries at the nexus of medicine and technology’ |url=https://www.montana.edu/news/23911/annual-stibitz-wilson-awards-to-honor-visionaries-at-the-nexus-of-medicine-and-technology |access-date=2025-01-25 |website=Montana State University |language=en-US}}</ref>
* '''2025''' - [[Serge Belongie]] & [[Pietro Perona]] (together), [[Lorrie Cranor]], [[Yasmin Kafai]], [[Mitchel Resnick]]
{{endplainlist}}
{{div col end}}

==Collection==

The ACRM's collection contains a wide variety of objects that span over 4,000 years of information technology history, beginning with a Babylonian cuneiform tablet dated to between 1860 and 1837 B.C.E. and a replica of the [[Antikythera Mechanism]], the earliest known geared mechanism, circa 80 B.C.E. The Antikythera Mechanism is an [[ancient Greek]] [[analog computer]] and [[orrery]] used to predict astronomical positions and eclipses for calendar and astrological purposes.

The ACRM has a large collection of historical books, documents, and artifacts related to the history of computing, communications, and knowledge dating back to 1605, including original manuscripts by [[Francis Bacon]] and [[René Descartes]] and original copies of Newton's ''Principia'' & ''Opticks'' and Locke's ''Essay Concerning Human Understanding''.

The museum also has a vast collection of early office technologies including mechanical adding machines like the [[History of computing hardware|Arithmometer]], electromechanical/electronic calculators (Friden, SCM, Monroe, Mathatron, Anita, [[Cal Tech (calculator)]], and Wang), telephones, telegraphs, typewriters, cash registers, and several telephone switchboards. It also holds an IBM 409 (relay-based tabulator) and a [[IBM 604]] (vacuum tube calculator), mechanical adding machines, and a variety of slide rules.

The museum also has military technology, including a [[Minuteman (missile)|Minuteman 1 Missile]] Guidance Computer and a [[Norden bombsight]].

The museum's collection also includes mechanical, electrical, and electronic toys, an industrial robot, and early consumer robots like Hubot.

Additionally, the museum has a replica of the [[Model K (calculator)|Model K]], the first binary adder, built for the museum by its inventor, [[George R. Stibitz]]. Also, the ACRM holds many mainframe computers and associated hardware from the 1950s to 1990s including the [[IBM 1620 Model II]], the IBM [[System/360]] Model 20, the Burroughs 205, [[PDP-8]], PDP-8/ and the [[UNIVAC 1004]].

The museum also features a [[UNIVAC 418-II]] formerly used by NASA for telemetry data processing support for the [[Apollo program|Apollo]] missions, including Apollo 11 in 1969, and later on in 1977 for the first [[Space Shuttle]] [[Approach and Landing Tests]] (ALT) of the first Space Shuttle orbiter, the Enterprise, before NASA retired the system and donated it to the ACRM.  The 418-II on exhibit at the museum is the last surviving mainframe computer used by NASA for the Apollo missions.

Signed artifacts at the ACRM include an original [[Altair 8800]] signed by Ed Roberts and an original [[Apple I]] signed and donated by [[Steve Wozniak]]. The museum also has an original January 1975 [[Popular Electronics|Popular Electronics Magazine]] announcing the Altair signed by [[Ed Roberts (computer engineer)|Ed Roberts]], [[Bill Gates]], [[Paul Allen]] and [[Monte Davidoff]].

==See also==
*[[Computer museum]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.compustory.com/ American Computer & Robotics Museum website]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:American Computer and Robotics Museum}}
[[Category:Museums established in 1990]]
[[Category:Computer museums in the United States]]
[[Category:History museums in Montana]]
[[Category:Museums in Bozeman, Montana]]
[[Category:1990 establishments in Montana]]
[[Category:Science museums in Montana]]