| Intro | Moroccan-American experimental nuclear physicist |
| Is |
Scientist Physicist |
| From | United States of America |
| Type | Science |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 1972, Morocco, Morocco |
| Age: | 48 years |
Kawtar Hafidi is a Moroccan-American experimental nuclear physicist and the Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Sciences and Engineering at Argonne National Laboratory. She researches nucleon and nuclear structure using major accelerator facilities, e.g., Jefferson Lab, DESY, and Fermilab. She is also an advocate for diversity and almost became a professional soccer player when she was 16 .
Early life and education
Hafidi was initially nudged towards a career in science by her father. When she had to decide between science and literature in ninth grade, her father told her: “What will you do with literature? It’s not useful to the country. Since you are good at everything, you should do science.” Afterwards, she stuck with this decision and went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in theoretical physics from Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco. She graduated in 1995 and continued her studies at University Paris-Sud where she studied the electromagnetic structure of the deuteron to receive her PhD in 1999.
Professional career
Hafidi first joined Argonne National Laboratory as a postdoc (1999-2002) and moved on to become an assistant physicist (2002-2006) and a physicist (since 2006). She briefly left Argonne to work for the Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics and returned as the Associate Chief Scientist for Laboratory Directed Research and Development . In 2017, she was appointed as Director of the Physics Division , and additionally in 2018 as Associate Laboratory Director for Physical Science and Engineering.
Major publications
- Airapetian, A.; Akopov, N.; Akopov, Z.; Amarian, M.; Andrus, A.; Aschenauer, E. C.; Augustyniak, W.; Avakian, R.; Avetissian, A. (2005-01-06). “Single-Spin Asymmetries in Semi-Inclusive Deep-Inelastic Scattering on a Transversely Polarized Hydrogen Target”. Physical Review Letters. 94 (1): 012002. arXiv:hep-ex/0408013. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.012002. ISSN 0031-9007. PMID 15698069.
- Airapetian, A.; Akopov, Z.; Amarian, M.; Andrus, A.; Aschenauer, E.C.; Augustyniak, W.; Avakian, H.; Avakian, R.; Avetissian, A. (2007). “Beam-spin asymmetries in the azimuthal distribution of pion electroproduction”. Physics Letters B. 648 (2–3): 164–170. doi:10.1016/j.physletb.2007.03.015.
- Airapetian, A.; Akopov, N.; Akopov, Z.; Amarian, M.; Aschenauer, E. C.; Avakian, H.; Avakian, R.; Avetissian, A.; Avetissian, E. (2001-10-10). “Measurement of the Beam-Spin Azimuthal Asymmetry Associated with Deeply-Virtual Compton Scattering”. Physical Review Letters. 87 (18): 182001. arXiv:hep-ex/0106068. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.182001. ISSN 0031-9007.
- Airapetian, A.; Akopov, N.; Akopov, Z.; Amarian, M.; Ammosov, V.; Andrus, A.; Aschenauer, E.; Augustyniak, W.; Avakian, R. (2005). “Quark helicity distributions in the nucleon for up, down, and strange quarks from semi-inclusive deep-inelastic scattering” (PDF). Physical Review D. 71 (1). doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.71.012003. ISSN 1550-7998.