Karl Richard Bechert (August 23, 1901 in Nuremberg, Middle Franconia – April 1, 1981 in Weilmünster-Möttau, Hesse) was a German theoretical physicist and political leader.
Under a fellowship of the Rockefeller Foundation, from 1925 to 1926, he accomplished postdoctoral studies and research at the Physics Institute of the University of Madrid.
[7] In 1933 he was called as an ordinarius professor and director of the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of Giessen.
[8] In 1945, the Allied Military Government for Occupied Territories appointed Bechert mayor of Donsbach, Westerwald and the Oberschulrat in Dillingen, where, on behalf of the Allied Military Government, he built a secondary school/high school.
In 1951, Bechert joined Victor Paschkis in founding the Society for Social Responsibility in Science.
Bechert was also part of the Pugwash movement and member of the World Union for Protection of Life.