Leonardo Neher nominated to be the United States Ambassador to Upper Volta by President Ronald Reagan while he was a resident in Maryland. He remained in that post until August 1, 1987, where he was succeeded by David H. Shinn. His foreign languages are Spanish and French. Neher died on May 11, 2015. Leonardo Neher Leonardo Neher (December 5, 1922 – May 11, 2015) was an American diplomat. He was the United States Ambassador to Burkina Faso from 1984 to 1987 (then the Republic of Upper Volta). Neher was born on December 5, 1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended Akron University from
Alessandro Volta an early electric battery, which produced a steady electric current. Volta had determined that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity was zinc and copper. Initially he experimented with individual cells in series, each cell being a wine goblet filled with brine into which the two dissimilar electrodes were dipped. The voltaic pile replaced the goblets with cardboard soaked in brine. In announcing his discovery of the voltaic pile, Volta paid tribute to the influences of William Nicholson, Tiberius Cavallo, and Abraham Bennet. The battery made by Volta is credited as one of the first electrochemical cells.