Dr. Zohra Aziza Baccouche (November 25, 1972 – June 11, 2021) has passed away from a benign brain tumor discovered when she was eight years old causing her to have severe hydrocephalus for the rest of her life.  She had had nine brain surgeries and six weeks of proton therapy treatment, some of the surgeries were to debulk the tumor, some were to put and add more efficient stints to control the drainage of the buildup of fluid in her brain.  It was the proton therapy treatment that promised so much, like debulking and stabilizing the tumor and even regaining some of her eyesight.  Unfortunately, those proton experimental radiation treatments destroyed more of the surrounding good brain tissue allowing her tumor to grow unrestrained and her stints to malfunction.

Dr. Z was a legally blind woman of many talents.  She could read, write, and speak Arabic and French and was very proficient in speaking Spanish and Italian.  In 1998, Dr. Z received a Mass Media Science & Engineering fellowship from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and was assigned to the science and technology division at CNN in Atlanta Georgia.  During her three-month fellowship, she produced many short videos that can be viewed on YouTube.  Dr. Z earned her Ph.D. in theoretical nuclear physics in 2002 from the University of Maryland at College Park.  She embarked on a career in science communication.  She gained experience writing and producing science-based multi-media products to include television films designed to promote science literacy among the laymen.  She, also, produced short promotional videos for science-based non-profits like the American Physical Society (APS) and the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP).  She produced promotional videos for university academic programs to include, for example, the department of physics at Howard University. Such videos were strategically designed to facilitate the recruitment of students into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related academic studies and career fields.  These web-based multi-media productions were created to spotlight the scientific objectives and research focus of each organization as well as to profile the scientific achievements and research activities of individual scientists.  Some of these productions can be viewed on her website: aziza@azizaproductions.com Dr. Z authored a book, and it was published on June 19, 2020, documenting her struggles with the astrocytoma tumor and its effect on her eyesight entitled "Seeking Vision: A Memoire of a Legally Blind Doctor of Nuclear Physics who Dared to Envision Possibilities."  She didn't get to promote her book before she became ill with dementia.  It can be found on <lulu.com>.

One of Dr. Z's classmates has expressed succinctly how many others felt about Dr. Z's character.  "Just wanted to send my condolences and let you know how much I admired Aziza for her courage to study at W&M as the first BLIND student, choosing some of the most difficult subjects. She was brilliant and full of life. She never let her disability hold her back and did not see herself as a victim. She was extremely disciplined with her academics and career goals. Anyone who crossed her path was inspired by her presence. Her smile was contagious."

Dr. Z is survived by her parents, Ella Lee Russell and Mustapha Baccouche, by her six siblings, Ali Mustapha, Leila Chiraz, Omar Said (her fraternal twin), Khedija Meriem, Taieb Salem, and Myriam Sarah, nine nephews and nine nieces, by two maternal aunts and three paternal aunts, by five maternal uncles and three paternal uncles, eighteen maternal cousins and fourteen paternal cousins.

https://youtu.be/tg2dPctDBt4

Teaching Science

Seeking Vision (video) This video was the seed idea for her book.

https://youtu.be/DNatzhe4BoQ

CNN: Quantum Computers

https://youtu.be/cJ8pdC1ouJ0

CNN – Changing Face of Science

https://youtu.be/qIydHHaIgLM