I am Dr. Wolfram Elsner, a retired professor of economics at the University of Bremen, where I spent many years researching, teaching, and exploring how economies really work. My academic journey took me through the Universities of Cologne (MA) and Bielefeld (PhD), followed by my habilitation in 1985. Before returning to academia, I spent a decade working in regional development at both city and state levels—getting hands-on experience with real-world economic challenges.

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Over the years, I’ve taken on various roles, including Managing Editor of the Forum for Social Economics (2012–2018) and President of the European Association for Evolutionary Political Economy (EAEPE) (2012–2016). I’ve had the opportunity to teach in the USA, across Europe, and in places like South Africa, Australia, Mexico, and China.

My textbook, Microeconomics of Complex Economies (Elsevier/Academic Press, 2015), even picked up the G. Myrdal Award. Beyond that, I’ve written and edited numerous books, book chapters, and journal articles.

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From 2018 to 2023, I was Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Evolutionary Political Economy (REPE). I’m also on the Board of Directors of the Association of Evolutionary Economics (AFEE) and serve on the Executive Council and as a Trustee of the Association of Social Economics (ASE).

My research revolves around Social Economics, Evolutionary and Institutional Economics, and Complexity Economics—always with an eye on practical applications in policy, industry, and regional development.

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Over the years, I’ve supervised and reviewed around 70 PhD dissertations in Germany, Austria, the UK, and the USA, overseen 12 professorial habilitations, and mentored several former PhD students and research assistants into professorships across the USA, UK, China, and Germany. It’s been quite a journey, and my work continues to focus on making economics more relevant to the real world.