Brian P. Schmidt was appointed Vice-Chancellor and President of The Australian National University (ANU) in January 2016. He is the 12th Vice-Chancellor of ANU. Recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Schmidt was an astrophysicist at the ANU Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics before becoming vice-chancellor.  

Schmidt received undergraduate degrees in astronomy and physics from the University of Arizona in 1989, and completed his astronomy master’s degree (1992) and PhD (1993) at Harvard University. Under his leadership, in 1998, the High-Z Supernova Search Team made the startling discovery that the expansion rate of the Universe is accelerating. Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, The United States Academy of Science and the Royal Society, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2013.  

More about Brian Schmidt and the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics 

Photo credit: Australian National University