Jean-François Hennart (Ph.D Economics, University of Maryland) is Emeritus Professor of International Business at Tilburg University. His previous full-time appointments were at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Wharton, and Florida International University. He holds and has held visiting positions at Politecnico di Milano, Aalborg University, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Kobe University, Osaka City University, Copenhagen Business School, Singapore Management University, Queens University Belfast, the University of Pavia, University College Dublin, BI Norwegian Business School, and LUISS.

His research focuses on the comparative study of international economic institutions such as multinational firms (MNEs) and their contractual alternatives, on modes of foreign market entry, and on equity joint ventures. His Theory of Multinational Enterprise (University of Michigan Press, 1982) pioneered the application of transaction cost theory to international business. He is presently working on MNEs from emerging countries, Born Globals, the internationalization of family firms, e-commerce, and the measurement of MNE activity. His work has garnered more than 25,000 Google citations.

He is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business and of the European International Business Academy for which he co-chaired for many years the annual doctoral tutorial. He is consulting editor at the Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS) and serves on the editorial boards of most major IB journals. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Vaasa and was elected in 2010 Booz&Co/Strategy+Business Eminent Scholar in International Management. In 2019 he received a Gold Medal for his publications in JIBS.