Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jochen Zimmermann is owner of the chair for Business Administration, Accounting and Controlling at the University of Bremen and Dean of the Department of Economics. His research has focused on such topics as International Accounting and Regulation of Accounting.

After studying Business Administration at the universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Mannheim, he received his doctoral degree at the chair of business administration and actuarial practice from the University of Mannheim in 1992. In the following three years, he completed his habilitation thesis also at the University of Mannheim. Furthermore, Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Zimmermann worked as Assistant Professor of Accounting at the London Business School from 1994 to 1998. 

In 1998 Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Zimmermann was appointed as university professor for business administration (accounting and controlling) at the University of Bremen. Since 2007, he is dean of the department of economics at the University of Bremen. 

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Zimmermann received an honorary doctorate from the State University of Tiflis in Georgia in 2008 for his commitment in reforming the economic department of the university. Moreover, he is involved in various organizations such as the American Accounting Association, the European Accounting Association and the German Association for the Insurance Industry.