This editor profile is the sixth in a series which will introduce you to a selection of our editors.
This week we have an interview with Dr. Thomas J.R. Hughes, an Editor of Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering

What aspect of being an editor do you find most rewarding?
Controlling the quality of work in a very big field. It’s almost impossible to keep up with the volume of work published in our field and I think people know that our journal is the place where they’ll find the highest quality. It’s good to be part of something like that.

Can you describe how it feels when you come across a groundbreaking paper?
It’s exciting.  It’s something that you know is going to breathe new life into the field.  In our area, it’s more about innovation and discovery rather than solving a long-standing theorem. It’s fun to see it in print.

What advice would you give to a new editor?
These days, when you become involved in an established or large journal, it’s going to be a lot of work, so you have to be prepared. You have to be committed to quality, but also extremely objective.  The reputation of the journal depends upon that. If the editor compromises, it becomes almost impossible to keep the process clean and objective.

What would you change about your role as editor or the scientific journal publishing industry if you could?
I’m a bit concerned about the counter-trend, where there are initiatives to run journals through universities. I remember the days when journals were exclusively run by professional associations who were outrageous in limiting innovation. In my field, one put a total prohibition on any articles that made references to computers. Every journal that is significant in my field today is a privately published journal. They opened the field.

How do you balance your role as editor with your other roles?
Well, you work hard.  You have to work, more or less, all the time. With everything on the web and everybody taking their laptop everywhere they go, if you work the old-fashioned way, you can’t keep up the pace. That’s the nature of the beast right now.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
That varied over time. I always thought that somehow my life would be some combination of science and art. Science was a natural thing to do, because I enjoyed it and I just seemed to be better at it than all the other kids. Beautiful theories are like great paintings, there’s something that’s right about them. You can feel it. I also wanted to be a professional athlete, as I like sports and I like the competitive aspect of them.  There’s a natural affinity between being creative and being competitive.  Being creative means being first.

Why did you choose Engineering Mechanics as your field of study?
I graduated in Mechanical Engineering and I enrolled in a work-study program at Grumman Aerospace. It was exciting, and I would alternate between working there and getting my masters. After my masters, I had the opportunity to work in a research lab. I took to that immediately, and that was the first opportunity I had to use computers to solve engineering problems. I studied for an MS in Mathematics and a PhD in Engineering Science from the University of California at Berkeley. I was a chaired professor at Stanford, and before that I taught at Caltech. Five years ago, I came to the University of Texas at Austin. This is the premier institute in my field. 

What gets you up in the morning?
Knowing that you’re starting to break through on something new and important.  When you have that feeling, you want to start working on it right away. It’s the spark of discovery.

What is the biggest lesson you've learned in your career?
Try to do good, quality work and be honest about it.  Share the credit. If you’re really honest about it, you probably get more credit than you deserve. 

What are you currently reading? Would you recommend it?
I’m looking forward to reading, “How Soccer Explains the World” by Franklin Foer. It’s about how problems in life and politics parallel with soccer.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?
Early on I found the work of John Argyris, who was the founder of this journal, inspiring. He was one of the real innovators of computer methods in engineering. In the early days he wrote very important articles and he seemed to see where all this was going. Zienkiewicz was also extremely influential. He had a flare for aesthetics, as did Argyris. Argyris expressed the opinion, “A good structural engineer must have a sense of geometric beauty.” Einstein also had this ability to solve problems in extremely simple, geometric ways.

What would you like your legacy to be?
I’d like them to say that I did good work and I was a fair person. 

What do you like to do for fun?
I really like good food and I have a wine cellar in my house. Also, I’m a big soccer fan and I like other sports too. Soccer really is the beautiful game. It’s the pinnacle of athleticism. Once the game starts, it’s all down to the players.

Relevant links:
Tom Hughes' home page
An Editor of Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering