Loulis was named for two caregivers (Louise and Lisa) at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was born.
After ten months at Yerkes, Loulis was transferred to Oklahoma with Roger Fouts and Washoe, his adoptive mother.
By 1993, the Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) was built for the family to reside.
[1] Washoe and three other chimpanzees (Tatu, Dar, and Moja) were raised as if they were deaf human children and acquired American Sign Language.
The details of this research can be found in Teaching Sign Language to Chimpanzees edited by Allen and Beatrix Gardner.