Kennett is a world class seismologist who has made major contributions to the nature of the seismic structure of the Earth. He has been at the forefront of theoretical work for the modelling of seismograms in a variety of complex media and has applied this theory to a number of innovative observational studies, including the structure of the upper mantle beneath northern Australia. Most recently he has developed the most comprehensive model for travel times for seismic waves through the Earth which forms the basis for all seismology studies into the loction of earthquakes, the determination of the mechanisms of earthquake faulting and the modelling of deep Earth structure.