Herbert J. Zeiger (b. 16 March 1925 in the Bronx, New York City, United States; d. 14 January 2011^[1]) was an American physicist and co-developer of the first maser.^[2]

Zeiger graduated from the City College of New York with a bachelor's degree in 1944, and Columbia University with a master's degree in 1948 and a doctorate in 1952. From 1953 until his retirement in 1990, he conducted research at the Lincoln Laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^{[citation needed]} He lived most recently in Newton, Mass., and then in Dedham, Mass. He is buried in West Roxbury.^[1]

In addition to the physics behind the maser and laser, Zeiger dealt with solid-state physics, semiconductor physics, and molecular physics.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1953-54, he worked alongside Charles H. Townes and James P. Gordon, who was then a PhD student of Townes, at Columbia University to develop the first maser.^[2]

In 1966, Zeiger became a Fellow of the American Physical Society.^[3] He and Gordon were the recipients of the first Charles Hard Townes Award in 1981, "For [their] contributions to the successful operations of the first quantum-electronics device, the ammonia maser".^[4]

He was married to Hanna Bloom and had three children: Joel Zeiger, Susan Zeiger Katz, and Judith Zeiger McNulty.^[1]