Zanoni Collection

Louis Zanoni received certification from the RCA Institutes before joining the David Sarnoff Research Center as a technician in 1957. In 1964, he was assigned to work with George Heilmeier on the invention of liquid-crystal displays. Zanoni was responsible for much of the circuit design and testing of the LCDs. He also built the first displays, most of which did not survive because of sensitivity of the liquids to the atmosphere and the lack of a hermetic seals. A graduate of Trenton, New Jersey's parochial and public school systems, Zanoni received the David Sarnoff Outstanding Technical Achievement Award and gold medal for team performance in basic studies of liquid crystals and imaginative application to practical displays, as a member of the team that invented liquid-crystal displays.