| Abstrakt: |
The 2005 L’ORÉAL-UNESCO award for women in physics recognized Zohra Ben Lakhdar’s contributions to research in Tunisia. But when Professor Ben Lakhdar was a young girl in 1950s Tunisia, girls did not go to school beyond the elementary grades, and she found herself under the tutelage of her mother learning how to take care of a family and home. Tunisia’s independence in 1956 changed that, and Professor Ben Lakhdar soon became the only girl in an all-boys’ college. In 1978 when she returned to Tunisia after earning her PhD in Paris, fewer than 10 Tunisians were doing research. But the number of students in the country was increasing and trained teachers were needed. Developing the capability to do research in Tunisia was urgent. So Professor Ben Lakhdar built a research laboratory in Tunisia. This paper tells the story. © 2005 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
