Robert Lee Pugh (October 27, 1931 – January 28, 2013) was an American diplomat.

He served as a political-military officer in Athens, Greece, from 1972 to 1976, congressional relations officer at the Department of State from 1976 to 1977, political adviser to CINCUSNAVEUR in London, England, from 1977 to 1979, and as Deputy Director of the Office of Southern European Affairs in the Bureau of European Affairs from 1979 to 1981.

[2] On September 5, 1985, Pugh became the United States Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, after having been nominated by President Reagan.

Pugh was married in 1955 to Bonnie (Barnes) Pugh, who died aboard UTA Flight 772 that was downed in a bomb explosion over the Ténéré desert near Bilma, Niger.

[3] Pugh died on January 28, 2013, at age 81 in Columbus, Mississippi, from Parkinson's disease.