George Edward Hughes

George Edward Hughes (8 June 1918 – 4 March 1994) was an Irish-born New Zealand philosopher and logician whose principal scholarly works were concerned with modal logic and medieval philosophy. He was born in Waterford, Ireland, and later moved to Scotland with his parents. Hughes earned an MA with First Class Honours from the University of Glasgow and studied at the University of Cambridge. He held lectureships at various UK universities before moving to New Zealand in 1951 to take up the first Chair in Philosophy at Victoria University of Wellington, where he remained until his retirement in 1984. He died in Wellington in 1994. His work in modal logic, co-authored with Max Cresswell, produced the influential textbook "An Introduction to Modal Logic". He also contributed to the study of medieval philosophical logic, preparing commentaries and translations of works by John Buridan and Paul of Venice. Hughes was also an ordained priest in the Anglican Church. He was married and had five children.