Josef Lense (28 October 1890 in Vienna – 28 December 1985 in Munich) was an Austrian physicist.
In 1914, Lense obtained his doctorate under Samuel Oppenheim. From 1927-28, he was Professor ordinarius and from 1928–1946 Professor extraordinarius for applied mathematics at the Technical University of Munich. From 1946 until 1961, he was director of the mathematical institute of the same university.
Lense, together with Hans Thirring, is known as one of the two discoverers of the Lense-Thirring effect, which is a prediction arising from general relativity that the rotation of a large mass (for example a planet), should influence the rotation of an orbiting satellite.
