Thomas Ijams Dent (November 14, 1831 – December 25, 1924) was a prominent Chicago lawyer.

[5] Thomas Dent was educated at public schools in Illinois and Ohio, and then, at age 15, became permanently employed as his father's assistant.

He moved to Chicago in 1856, forming a legal partnership with Martin R. M. Wallace.

[6] In 1879, Dent ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Supreme Court of Illinois on the Republican ticket.

An elder of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Dent served as a director of the McCormick Theological Seminary for nearly 4 decades.