Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences. Between 1994 and 2000, he completed his Master's Degree and PhD at Case Western Reserve University as a scholarship student with MEB.

He worked at Selçuk University between 2000 and 2011 and Necmettin Erbakan University between 2011 and 2014. He is currently working as a Faculty Member at Ankara Yildirim Beyazıt University Department of International Relations.

Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün, who has taken on many administrative duties, is specialized on Comparable Politics, International Relations, Foreign Policy and International Organizations. Besides to these, he has many academic publications in the fields of Political Sociology, Diaspora and Migration Policy, Developing Countries, Global Migration and Rising Powers, International Organizations and Turkey.

Akgün, who received Milliyet 2002 Social Sciences First Prize for his work titled '9/11, Changing World Balances and Turkey', has carried out many high-level tasks in non-governmental organizations with the understanding of social responsibility.

Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün, President of the Turkish Maarif Foundation, is married and father of two children.