Dr. Thomas A. Zimmermann studied European Economics and Management at the University of Bamberg (Germany). In 1998, he became a researcher at the Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research (SIAW-HSG) at the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland), where he obtained his doctoral degree with a thesis on WTO dispute settlement reform in 2004. Since 2003 Dr. Zimmermann has been working for the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in Berne, Switzerland. He first was in charge of bilateral economic relations between Switzerland and North America (2003-2006), then served as chief of staff (2006-2009) and as head of the “Organisation, Law and Accreditation” division, while also being a member of the Board at SECO (2009-2020). Since 2020, he serves as head of the "Special Foreign Economic Service" division, Ambassador and Delegate of the Federal Council for Trade Agreements as well as Member of the Board. At the same time, he continues to be a research associate at SIAW-HSG. In addition, he has been a lecturer (professore a contratto) for international trade policy at the Graduate School for Economics and International Relations (ASERI) at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Italy, since 2006. 

Contacts
e-mail: thomas.zimmermann@unisg.ch
personal page: http://www.zimmermann-thomas.ch