Art Schmidt received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois in 1983 and his M.S. in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois in 1984. He worked as a Hydrologist for the Illinois District of the United States Geological Survey from 1983 to 1994. From 1994 to 1999 he was the Director of Technical Operations for HydroScience, Ltd., Inc., a consulting-engineering firm headquartered in Seffner Florida. From 1998 through 2000 he was the "Flow-Measurement Expert" for the 4th Lake Michigan Diversion Accounting Technical Committee. He returned to the University of Illinois in July 1999 and completed his Ph.D. degree in Environmental Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering (EHHE) in 2002. His, titled Analysis of Stage-Discharge Relations for Open-Channel Flows and Their Associated Uncertainties, was selected as one of two first-place finishers for the University Council on Water Resources Ph.D. Dissertation Award in the field of Natural Science and Engineering.

Dr. Schmidt has worked in the civil engineering profession since 1975--beginning part-time as part of a land-surveying crew--with a continually-increasing level of professional responsibility. His university-level course work comprises a comprehensive background in environmental hydraulics and hydrology and related topics including numerical methods, operations research, statistics, and water quality. This course work was all completed at the University of Illinois. In addition, Dr. Schmidt has completed many other courses offered through the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Weather Service, and university-extension programs. Courses relevant to his technical background include courses on four dynamic (unsteady-flow) hydraulic models, one hydrologic model, three solute transport and water-quality models, two courses on water-quality processes, a course on probability and statistics for hydrologic data, and several courses on technical writing and editing. Dr. Schmidt's general research interest is in the study of surface-water hydraulics and hydrology, especially focusing on methods to provide improved measurement and quantitative description of flows. Dr. Schmidt's current research involves a critical review of stage-discharge relations from a fluid-mechanics perspective. This research is expected to provide a means to develop theoretically based stage-discharge ratings for open-channels, significantly reducing the number of flow measurements needed to develop these ratings. In addition to his research, Dr. Schmidt taught CEE255, Introduction to HydroSystems Engineering, in the Fall 2001 semester and CEE 356, Hydraulics of Surface Drainage in the Spring, 2002 semester. Dr. Schmidt is s registered Professional Engineer in Florida and Illinois and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.