 Thereafter he attended University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, obtaining a master's degree in English in 1981 before graduating with a PhD in medieval literature in 1985.Schmidt has since worked as a professor for the English department at Calvin College.In 2005, Schmidt's novel "Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy" was awarded a Newbery Honor, which recognizes "the most distinguished contribution[s] to American literature for children", and a Printz Honor.