G. L Hofacker was born on January 12, 1930 in Ansbach. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Göttingen in 1948. In 1958 he obtained his doctorate in Göttingen with the topic: "Theory of hydrogen bonding". In 1958 he became a research assistant to W. Jost, Göttingen, and then a research assistant at the University of Uppsala to P.O. Löwdin.

This was followed by a visiting professorship at the Quantum Theory Project, University of Florida, USA, in 1962, a guest lectureship at the Solid State Laboratory of the ETH Zurich in 1963, an associate professorship in 1964 and then a full professorship at Northwestern University, USA, in 1968.

In September 1968, he was appointed to a full professorship (C4) at what was then the Institute of Technology,  Munich. He was the first holder of a newly founded Chair of Theoretical Chemistry; it was also the first chair in this subject area at a German university.

From his early scientific work, he was primarily concerned with the theory of reaction dynamics of hydrogen bonds and transfer, and structure-function relationships of enzymes. His scientific orientation was very broad. He always gave his students the opportunity to further their careers with independent publications, which are hardly reflected in his publication list.

Together with Robin M. Hochstrasser (U Pennsylvania) and Edward W. Schlag (TUM), Ludwig Hofacker founded the journal "Chemical Physics" in 1973, for which he was co-editor for many years. Together with the journal "Chemical Physics Letters", published since 1967, he helped to establish the term "chemical physics" in Germany.

Prof. L. Hofacker retired in 1998.

Prof. Hofacker passed away on October 2, 2023.