Brian  Schmidt  is  a  Federation  Fellow  at  The  Australian  National  University's  Mount  Stromlo  Observatory.  Brian was raised in Montana and Alaska, USA, and received undergraduate degrees in Physics  and  Astronomy  from the  University of  Arizona in 1989.  Under the supervision of Robert Kirshner, he completed his Astronomy Master's degree (1992)  and PhD (1993)  from Harvard University.  In 1994 he formed the  High­Z  SN  Search  team,  a  group  of  20  astronomers  on  5 continents  who used  distant  exploding  stars  to  trace the  expansion  of  the  Universe  back  in time. This group's discovery of  an accelerating Universe was named Science Magazine's Breakthrough  of  the  Year  for  1998.  Brian Schmidt joined the  staff  at  the  Australian  National  University in  1995,  and  was  awarded  the  Australian  Government's  inaugural  Malcolm  McIntosh  award  for achievement  in  the  Physical  Sciences  in  2000,  The  Australian  Academy  of  Sciences  Pawsey  Medal  in 2001,  the Astronomical  Society of  India's Vainu Bappu Medal  in 2002,  and an Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship in 2005. In 2006 Schmidt was jointly awarded the Shaw Prize for Astronomy, and shared the  2007 Gruber Prize for Cosmology with his High-Z SN Search Team colleagues. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences, and the United States National Academy in 2008. Brian is continuing his work using exploding stars to study the Universe, and is leading Mt Stromlo’s effort  to build the SkyMapper telescope,  a new facility that will provide a comprehensive digital map of the southern sky from ultraviolet through near infrared wavelengths.