Ludwig Wilhelm Emil Ernst Becker FRSE (1860 – 1947) was Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Glasgow from 1893 until 1935 when he retired.
Ludwig was a popular lecturer at Glasgow and it was claimed that his classes were better attended than those of any other astronomy course in the United Kingdom.
He left the University Observatory well equipped for contemporary needs, and in his earlier years he added significantly to its instrument collection.
[1] Although Becker had become a naturalized British citizen in 1892[2] before his appointment to Glasgow, this fact failed to save him from embarrassment and unmerited suspicion during the Great War; local public opinion forced his absence from the University.
Smart records that, "Becker was one of the gentlest of men, modest and retiring in disposition and, whatever the outside world thought, respected and esteemed by his students both for his learning and his kindly qualities."