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Professor Brian Schmidt was appointed Vice-Chancellor of ANU in January 2016.

He is the 12th Vice-Chancellor of The Australian National University (ANU). Winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, Professor Schmidt was an astrophysicist at the ANU Mount Stromlo Observatory and Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics before becoming Vice-Chancellor.

Professor 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) from 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.

Experience

  • 2010–present
    Distinguished Professor, Australian National University
  • 2010–present
    Australian Research Council Laureate Fellow, Australian National University
  • 2005–2009
    Australian Research Council Federation Fellow, Australian National University

Education

  • 1993 
    Harvard University, PhD (Astronomy)

Honours

Nobel Prize in Physics