Hans-Dieter Evers is emeritus professor of development planning, University of Bielefeld and senior fellow, Center for Development Research, University of Bonn. He is currently a visiting professor at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Formerly he taught sociology at Yale University (where he was also Director of Graduate Southeast Asia Studies), at the National University of Singapore and Monash University.

He also held visiting positions at Trinity College Oxford, Universitas Indonesia, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Universiti Sains Malaysia, EHESS Paris, Singapore Management University and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. His current research is concerned with the governance of the South China Sea and Southeast Asian knowledge societies.