You get a sense of Dr. Benmokhtar's excitement for her research and her students the
minute you meet her. "When I see students I see myself when I was young," she says
with a big smile. "I put myself in their shoes. I want them to learn and enjoy what
they are learning. When I teach I try to make it useful and make it applicable for
their life."
Dr. Benmokhtar came to Duquesne in 2012 as a visiting professor and went on to become
an assistant professor in 2014. She is a nuclear physicist and teaches courses in
particle physics, thermal physics, advanced electromagnetism and mathematical methods
for physicists and engineers. She investigates the structure of protons and neutrons
through their elementary constituents: the quarks. "The smaller the object you want
to measure the bigger your apparatus must be. To measure quarks we need an apparatus
that is the size of Duquesne," she says.
During the academic year she works with about five students and up to nine or ten
in the summer. They do data analysis and software development. Her work is supported
by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Energy. Many of
her students have had research internships at the U.S. Dept. of Energy's Thomas Jefferson
National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, VA and the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica
Nucleare (INFN) in Italy. A lot of the work they all do is put into her own experiments
at the Jefferson Lab.
"Even if they don't do nuclear physics in the future just the experience they learn,
communication skills, talking with collaborators from all around the world, it really
brings them up. Some of them are really shy in the beginning but after a year or two
they are speaking and presenting posters at both national and international conferences,"
she says.
"I love it here at Duquesne. I feel like I am myself here, especially working with
the students. It's a happy responsibility." Her role as a mentor also carries over
to her work as member of Women in STEM at Duquesne University, which aims to promote
and support women in basic and applied sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics
career paths.
Born and raised in Algeria, Dr. Benmokhtar says that "English is my fourth language!"
She is Berber and her parents lived in the mountains before moving to Algiers in 1966.
Dr. Benmokhtar is fluent in Berber, French and Arabic. With her siblings they also
speak an Algerian mixed dialect that even incorporates elements of Spanish. She and
her husband have a five-year-old son, Andy, who is "very full of energy and very curious,"
she says. "It's just the joy of my life."
While grounded in family, her research and teaching are the other joys in her life.
"The application (of our work) may not be for right now. But in 10 years, 20 years
there is. History shows that. For example the MRI." Her love of physics came at an
early age and from an unexpected place. "When I was 12 years old I decided to do nuclear
physics, not just physics, but nuclear physics. I was precise!" One of her neighbors
worked in the field and she though, "if he can do it I can do it."