Aziza Baccouche


Zohra Aziza Baccouche is an American physicist and science filmmaker. She was an American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Science and Engineering fellow at CNN. Declared legally blind at the age of eight, she lost her sight due to a brain tumor at nine years old.

Early Life

Dr. Baccouche was born to an African-American mother and Tunisian father on November 25, 1976 and brought up in Tunisia.

Education

Dr. Baccouche was the first blind person to study physics at the College of William & Mary, graduating in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science. Her undergraduate advisor suggested that because she was blind she should she not study physics. In 1998, she earned her master's degree from Hampton University. As part of an American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Fellowship in 1999, she joined CNN in Atlanta and was appointed the special science correspondent of the Washington Bureau. In 2000, she established Aziza Productions. She received her PhD in theoretical nuclear physics from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 2002. Her dissertation entitled "" focused on heavy baryons.

Career

After completing her PhD, Dr. Baccouche became a science correspondent for Evening Exchange with Kojo Nnamdi on Howard University Television. She has been involved with initiatives to increase the number of African-American women studying physics. She currently works as a science media producer.