Walter Bossert received a PhD in Economics from the University of Karlsruhe in 1988. He has taught at the University of British Columbia, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He has been a full professor in the Department of Economics (Université de Montréal) since 2000 and is a researcher at CIREQ.

The majority of his research focuses on analyzing the links between social choice theory and ethics, using mathematical techniques. He works particularly on social welfare indicators, the theory of individual and collective decision-making, and the rationality of economic choices.