Huajian Gao FRS (Chinese: 高华健; pinyin: Gāo Huájiàn, born December 7, 1963) is a Chinese-American mechanician who is widely known for his contributions to the field of solid mechanics, particularly on the micro- and nanomechanics of thin films, hierarchically structured materials, and cell-nanomaterial interactions.

Gao was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2012 for contributions to micromechanics of thin films and hierarchically structured materials.

In 2021 he received the Timoshenko Medal for "pioneering contributions to nanomechanics of engineering and biological systems.

[6] In January of 2024 it was announced that Huajian Gao would be joining Tsinghua University in a full time chair professor position.

Gao received academic honors including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in 1995 and the Humboldt Prize from Germany and Rodney Hill Prize in Solid Mechanics from the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics (IUTAM) in 2012.