Prof. Dr. Adem Şahin was born in Ordu in 1958. He graduated in 1979 from Hacettepe University, Faculty of Social and Administrative Sciences, with a degree in Business Administration. He received his Master’s degree in Economics in 1984 and his Doctorate degree in 1988 from Istanbul University’s Institute of Social Sciences.

Between 1982 and 1989, he worked as a Research Assistant, from 1989 to 1996 as an Assistant Professor, and from 1996 to 1999 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Economic Policy within the Faculty of Economics at Istanbul University.

From 1999 to 2000, he served as the Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and continued his duties as the Undersecretary from 2000 to 2007.

In 2007, he began working as a faculty member in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, at TOBB University of Economics and Technology (TOBB ETÜ). He earned the title of Professor in 2009. Between 2008 and 2015, he served as the General Secretary of TOBB ETÜ. After serving as the Vice-Rector and Acting Rector from 2014 to 2015, he assumed the position of Rector in 2015.

Prof. Dr. Adem Şahin is married and has one child. On May 25, 2018, he was elected as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Standards Institute (TSE) and completed this duty on June 30, 2022. He returned to his position at TOBB ETÜ on June 1, 2022, where he continues to serve as a faculty member.

Prof. Dr. Adem Şahin joined TEPAV as the Director of the Politics Studies Center in 2024.