Tankut Centel received his BA from the Law School, Istanbul University. He completed his graduate study at the Social Sciences Institute, Istanbul University (PhD, 1980), and became an associate professor in 1986 and full professor in 1993 at the Law School, Istanbul University.
Professor Centel worked as a conciliator-mediator-arbitrator in many labour disputes.
He also served as a technical adviser for the Confederation of Employer Associations of Turkey in the ILO Conference Committee on the Application of Standards since 1996 and as a domestic legal advisor of Turkish Confederation of Employer Associations (TISK) since 2018. In addition, at present, he is an executive committee member of MESS Education Foundation (MEV).
Professor Centel was the dean of the Law School, Istanbul University, for three terms (1999–2008) and the dean of the Law School, Koç University, for 3 years (2008–2011). He is now teaching labour and social law at KoçUniversity Law School in Sariyer, Istanbul.