In 1987 Brakefield became a Professor of Evolutionary Biology at Leiden University. In 2010 he left Leiden after serving as a professor for 23 years to become director of the Cambridge University Museum of Zoology.[2] In 2011, Brakefield was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.[3] On 22 May 2015 Brakefield became President of the Linnean Society of London, serving until May 2018.[4][5][6]