Bernd T. Matthias (June 8, 1918 – October 27, 1980[1]) was a German-born American physicist credited with discoveries of hundreds of elements and alloys with superconducting properties.

He remained at UCSD for the rest of his career, conducting research and mentoring students who became distinguished physicists in their turn.

[7] In 1954, he came up with his famous Matthias' rules, a series of empirical guidelines on how to find superconductors.

[2][3] He received the Research Corporation Award (1962), John Price Wetherill Medal of the Franklin Institute (1964), the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize (1970)[3] and James C. McGroddy Prize for New Materials (1979).

[9] The University of California, San Diego has an endowed chair in physics named for him; the Bernd T. Matthias Chair in Physics is currently held by M. Brian Maple, who received his PhD under Mathias.