Stanley Schmidt, born March 7, 1944 in Cincinnati, Ohio, is a science fiction writer and was a highly respected editor of Analog Science Fiction (1978-2012), one of the premier magazines of science fiction. He was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Novelette, World Science Fiction Society, in 2001 and won a Robert A. Heinlein Award in 2012; a Hugo Award for best professional editor short form, 2013; and a Solstice Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America in 2015.

Schmidt earned a PhD in 1969 from Case Western Reserve University. Before becoming an editor, Schmidt taught courses in astronomy, science fiction, and biology as an assistant professor of physics at Heidelberg College in Tiffin, Ohio from 1969 to 1978. He has also worked as a freelance musician, writer, and photographer.

Schmidt began writing when he was in eighth grade and has published four novels, including Argonaut (2002), numerous short stories, and nonfiction works, including Aliens and Alien Societies: A Writers Guide to Creating Extraterrestrial Life-Forms (1995). He became an editor with Analog in 1978. Schmidt edited Analog: Writers' Choice Volumes I and II, which included selections chosen by authors from among stories published in the magazine.

Schmidt can play several instruments and composes music. He reads several languages including Spanish, German, Russian, Dutch, Polish, Catalan, Swahili, Portuguese, French, and Italian.