Professor Stuart Wyithe is the current Director of the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics. He was awarded his PhD from The University of Melbourne in 2001, and was a Hubble Fellow at Harvard University before returning to Australia in 2002.

Professor Wyithe' s research focus is on the evolution of the earliest galaxies and how this evolution may be studied with the next generation of telescopes. He has received several awards for this work, including an Australian Laureate Fellowship, the Pawsey Medal for physics from the Australian Academy of Science, the Malcolm McIntosh Prize for Physical Scientist of the Year and the Australian Institute of Physics Boas Medal. Professor Wyithe has also played numerous leadership roles including President of the Astronomical Society of Australia and Chair of the Australian National Committee for Astronomy. In the latter role he chaired the Australian Astronomy Decadal Plan 2015-2025.