Brian Kennett is currently Distinguished Professor of Seismology at the Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University and was Director from September 2006 to January 2010.  He received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Seismology from the University of Cambridge in 1973. He was a Lindemann Fellow at IGPP, University of California, San Diego and then a University Lecturer at the University of Cambridge. He moved to Australia in 1984, and was President of IASPEI from 1999-2003. 

His research has covered a very wide range of topics in seismology, from reflection seismology to studies of the deep Earth and from theoretical to observational studies. He has received recognition through many medals and awards including the Gold Medal in Geophysics from the Royal Astronomical Society, the Gutenberg Medal from the European Geosciences Union, the Murchison Medal from the Geological Society of London, and the Jaeger and Flinders Medals from the Australian Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society (London).