 Schwarz taught at the University of Heidelberg from 1981 to 1992 and served as Scientific Director of ZUMA, now , an interdisciplinary social science research center(1987–1992).From 1993 to 2013, he worked at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he held appointments as the Charles Horton Cooley Collegiate Professor of Psychology in the Social Psychology program, Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, Research Professor in the Program in Survey Methodology, and Research Professor at the Institute for Social Research.He was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (2000/01; 2009/10) and held visiting positions at universities in Europe (e.g., University of Würzburg, Germany) and Asia (e.g., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology).