Joachim von Braun is a Distinguished Professor for Economic and Technological Change at Bonn University, in the Center for Development Research (ZEF), Germany. His research is on economic development, food, nutrition and agriculture, resource and environmental economics, science and technology policy.
Von Braun is President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences of the Vatican, and member of German National Academy of Science Leopoldina, the German Academy of Engineering, the Academy of Arts & Sciences of North-Rhine Westphalia, the World Academy (TWAS), the African Academy of Sciences. In 2020 and 2021 he served as Chair of the Scientific Group for the Food Systems Summit 2021 of the UN Secretary General. He was director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) based in Washington DC.
He was President of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE), serves as adviser in various national and international organizations, and received several national and international honors and awards. He published more than 250 peer reviewed publications.