Becker holds the Distinguished Chair in Geophysics at the Jackson School of Geosciences and is a faculty associate at the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences at UT Austin. His research interests are in geodynamics and seismology, studying how planets' interior and surface systems have co-evolved. He is a Fellow of AGU, elected member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Academia Europaea, and recipient of IUGG's Evgueni Burov and EGU's Augustus Love medals.

With his team, Becker integrates field, laboratory, analog, and numerical approaches into geodynamical models, focusing on the physics of plate tectonics, from grain-scale deformation to earthquakes and global mantle flow. They are always looking for motivated undergraduate and graduate students to join their collaborative efforts. Thorsten's teaching interests include Tectonic Geodynamics and Lab to Planet at UT, as well as a range of topics in Geophysics, Natural Hazards, Deep Earth Dynamics, and Numerical Modeling.

Becker is a past Chair of the Standing Committee on Solid Earth Geophysics and served on the Board of Earth Sciences and Resources at the National Academy of Sciences. Thorsten's other service commitments include membership of the Southern California Earthquake Center's Planning Committee, leading the Modeling Collaboratory for Subduction RCN, and a near decade term as Editor in Chief of AGU's journal Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems. He currently serves as an editor for AGU Advances as well as vice chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of GFZ Potsdam.

Thorsten has a Diplom in Physics from Frankfurt University, a Ph.D. in Geophysics from Harvard, and was the Cecil H. and Ida M. Green Post-doctoral Scholar at Scripps, UC San Diego, before his first faculty appointment at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, where he was an Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor before moving to UT.