From 1898, Becker was a military engineer. From 1901 to 1903, Becker studied at the Munich Artillery and Engineering School. From 1906 to 1911, he studied at the Berlin Military Engineering Academy, specializing in
ballistics under Carl Julius Cranz; from 1908 to 1911, he was a teaching assistant at the Ballistics Laboratory there. From 1911 to 1914, he was a member of the Artillery Examining Board. From 1919 to 1923, Becker studied
chemistry and
metallurgy. He was awarded a doctorate of engineering in 1922, with a thesis on
cathodic change of
phenol. Becker, head of the ballistics and munitions section of the HWA Weapons Testing Division, was a key early supporter of Germany's development of the rocket as a weapon. In 1929, Becker got permission of the
Reichswehrministerium (RWM, Reich Ministry of Defense) to do so. He was interested in the development of both solid-fuel and liquid-fuel rockets. Later, one of his subordinates, Colonel Dr
Walter Dornberger became important as leader of the
V2 rocket program.
Wernher von Braun was hired in 1932. From 1932, Becker was an Honorary Professor of military sciences at the
Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität (later, the
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, i.e. University of Berlin). From autumn 1933, he was an
ordentlicher Professor (ordinarius professor) of technical physics at the
Technische Hochschule Berlin in
Berlin Charlottenburg (later,
Technische Universität Berlin). From 1935, he was
ordentlicher Professor of defense technology, physics, and ballistics, as well as dean of the military engineering department (
Wehrtechnische Fakultät), which had been newly created in 1933, at the
Technische Hochschule Berlin. He was on the supervisory board of the
Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft, the umbrella organization for numerous technical institutes. From 1935, he was the first general officer to be a member of the
Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften (PAW, Prussian Academy of Sciences). In 1937, Becker significantly expanded the
Wehrtechnische Fakultät. From November 1933, Becker was head of the research department and the Weapons Testing Office, and from February 4, 1938, head of the HWA, in addition to his positions at the
Technische Hochschule Berlin and the University of Berlin. From 1937, he was also first president of the
Reichsforschungsrat (RFR, Reich Research Council), appointed by
Bernhard Rust, Minister of the
Reichserziehungsministerium (REM, Reich Ministry of Education). On 8 April 1940, just one day before the invasion of
Denmark and
Norway (
Operation Weserübung), Becker committed suicide. Becker had been depressed for months, as he had been heavily criticized by Hitler and others for shortfalls in munitions production. Becker's suicide was covered up by a State funeral on 12 April 1940, personally attended by Hitler, followed by interment in the Berlin
Invalidenfriedhof cemetery. ==Notes==