Herbert Zeiger studied at City College of New York City, earning a B.S. in 1944. He went on to Colombia University to earn his MA in 1948 and Ph.D. in physics in 1952. The following year, he joined MIT Lincoln Labs, where he remained for his career. Together with Charles Hard Townes and James P. Gordon, Zeiger co-published the paper which helped launch laser technology. The inaugural Charles Hard Townes Award was co-presented to Zeiger and Gordon in 1981 “for [their] contributions to the successful operation of the first quantum-electronics device, the ammonia maser.”