Karl Heinz Beckurts (born 16 May 1930 in Rheydt; murdered[1] 9 July 1986 in Straßlach near Munich) was a German physicist and research manager.
Along with his driver, Eckhard Groppler, Beckurts was murdered by a roadside bomb at 7:32 AM on 9 July 1986 in Straßlach, a village near Munich.
The Red Army Faction claimed responsibility under the name "Kommando Mara Cagol" but the identity of the perpetrators is still unknown.
He began studying physics in 1949 at the University of Göttingen, where he received an undergraduate degree in 1954 and in 1956 earned his doctorate with a dissertation in non-stationary neutron fields.
In 1958, when Wirtz was named head of the Department of Experimental science for the Institute for Neutron Physics and Reactor Technology (INR) at the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center, Beckurts followed with him to continue his work.
In 1969, he received a personal professorship in Heidelberg, but he resigned to instead take a position as Scientific and Technical Director of the Jülich Research Centre from 1970 to 1975.
Also, from 1973 to 1975, he served as Chairman of the KTG [de] (Nuclear Society) and Vice President of the German Atomic Forum.
From 1963 to 1966 he was the representative of the Federal Republic of Germany in the International Nuclear Data Scientific Working Group (INDSWG) of the IAEA in Vienna.
The attackers claimed responsibility under the name "commando Mara Cagol" of the Red Army Faction (RAF).