Congratulations to Brian Schmidt who has been named as the next vice-chancellor of Australian National University. Schmidt, who won the 2011 Nobel prize for physics, is currently a professor of astrophysics at the university.
He said he aimed to boost the university’s research profile and bring it to the level of Oxbridge and the Ivy League.
“I’ve been at the ANU for some 20 years and it has given me some of the best experiences of my life. I really want to give back to the university that has given so much to me,” Professor Schmidt said in a statement.
“We need to focus as well on outreach, devising policy for the nation, and working with business and institutions like CSIRO,” Professor Schmidt said. “In this way we can take the knowledge we create and give it back to the nation to make Australia even stronger.”
He takes the reins at the beginning of next year.
Schmidt, along with Adam Riess and Saul Perlmutter, jointly won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics for their observations which led to the discovery of the accelerating Universe.