Hans-Dieter Evers, emeritus Professor of Development Planning and Senior Fellow, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany. Currently Visiting Professor, institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS), National University of Malaysia (UKM). Before his academic career he worked in a German shipping company, a shipyard and as midshipman in the German merchant navy. He received a degree of Dr.phil. (PhD) from the University of Freiburg. Later he taught sociology at Monash University, at Yale University, where he was also Director of Graduate Southeast Asia Studies, University of Singapore (Head of Dept.) and Bielefeld University (Dean and Director). He also served as Visiting Professor at the Singapore Management University, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, Universitas Gajah Mada, the EHESS (Paris), Trinity College (Oxford), the University of Hawaii, and as Distinguished Visiting Professor at the National University of Singapore and Universiti Brunei Darussalam. From 2014 to 2018 he was Distinguished Pok Rafeah Chair Professor in International Studies, IKMAS, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.

His current research is concerned with maritime conceptions of space, the maritime economy, the South China Sea and knowledge management. He has published a large number of books, refereed journal articles and book chapters. He is co-editor of Catalysts of Change: Chinese Business in Asia, World Scientific 2013, Beyond the Knowledge Trap: Developing Asia's Knowledge-Based Economies; World Scientific 2011, Governing and Managing Knowledge in Asia, 2nd revised edition, World Scientific, 2010; The Straits of Malacca. Berlin: LIT 2008; Southeast Asian Urbanism: The Meaning and Power of Social Space. Singapore: ISEAS/McGrawHill 2000 and The Moral Economy of Trade, London: Routledge 1994. Connecting Oceans. Vol 1 Malaysia as a Maritime Nation. Bangi: UKM Press 2019