Thomas Sterling (February 21, 1851 – August 26, 1930) was an American lawyer, politician, and academic who served as a member of the United States Senate and the first dean of the University of South Dakota College of Law.

Sterling studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1878, commencing his practice in Springfield, Illinois.

He moved to Redfield in 1886 and continued the practice of law, serving as district attorney of Spink County, South Dakota, from 1886 to 1888.

He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1924, losing in the Republican primary to William H. McMaster, who won the general election.

He was appointed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925 as field secretary of the Commission for the Celebration of the Two Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington.