Richard Barry Bernstein

{{Short description|American physical chemist}}

{{Other people|Richard Bernstein}}

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{{Infobox scientist

|name = Richard Bernstein

|birth_date = {{Birth date|1923|10|31}}

|birth_place = Long Island, New York

|death_date = {{Death date and age|1990|7|8|1923|10|31}}

|death_place = Helsinki, Finland

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|fields = Chemical Physicist
Chemical Kineticist
Femtochemistry(founder)

|workplaces = University of Michigan
University of Wisconsin
University of Texas
UCLA

|alma_mater = Columbia University

|doctoral_advisor = T.I. Taylor

|academic_advisors =

|doctoral_students = Robert J. LeRoy

|notable_students =

|known_for = Femtochemistry
LeRoy-Bernstein Theory
LeRoy-Bernstein Distance

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|awards = National Medal of Science, National Academy of Sciences Award, Willard Gibbs Award, Peter Debye Award, Irving Langmuir Award, Welch Award

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Richard Barry Bernstein (October 31, 1923 – July 8, 1990) was an American physical chemist. He is primarily known for his research in chemical kinetics and reaction dynamics by molecular beam scattering and laser techniques. He is credited with having founded femtochemistry, which laid the groundwork for developments in femtobiology. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1970.{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter B|url=http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterB.pdf|publisher=American Academy of Arts and Sciences|access-date=June 24, 2011}} Among his awards were the National Medal of Science and the Willard Gibbs Award, both in 1989.

Bernstein received his doctorate in chemistry from Columbia University in 1948.{{cite news |last1=Browne |first1=Malcolm W. |title=Richard B. Bernstein, 66, Is Dead; A Pioneer in Modern Chemistry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/12/obituaries/richard-b-bernstein-66-is-dead-a-pioneer-in-modern-chemistry.html |access-date=26 July 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=July 12, 1990}}

Bernstein had a heart attack in Moscow and died shortly afterwards in Helsinki, Finland, aged 66.