Dr. Shelly J. Schmidt received her Ph.D. in Food Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1986 under the direction of Dr. Marvin P. Steinberg. Before obtaining her Ph.D., Dr. Schmidt was employed at General Foods in Kankakee, IL for two years. Currently, Dr. Schmidt is a Professor of Food Chemistry in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition and the Department of Agricultural Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL. In 1994-95, Dr. Schmidt spent her sabbatical leave at Tate & Lyle (formerly A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company), in the Research and Development Department and in 2007-08 she spent her second sabbatical leave in conjunction with the Visualization, Media, and Imaging Laboratory, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois developing visual explanations for the courses she teaches and teaching Water Relations in Foods courses for Kellogg's Company in Battle Creek, MI.

Her research interest includes food materials science research program uses multi-level analytical techniques, such as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Dynamic Vapor Sorption (DVS), Dynamic Dewpoint Isotherms (DDI), and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) to elucidate the relationship between water and solids dynamics (mobility) and the physical, chemical, and microbiological stability and quality characteristics of food systems.