Thomas Joseph Robert Hughes (born 1943) is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and currently holds the Computational and Applied Mathematics Chair (III) at the Oden Institute at The University of Texas at Austin.

[4] A leading expert in computational mechanics, Hughes has received numerous academic distinctions and awards for his work.

[6] Hughes has developed computational methods for understanding solid, structural and fluid mechanics.

He recently has applied this expertise to develop customized models of blood flow for patients using their individual imaging records such as CT scans and MRIs.

Hughes was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1995 for contributions to the development of finite element methods for solid-structural and fluid mechanics.