Professor Hughes, a physician, came to Kellogg from the National Bureau of Economic Research and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in the City of New York. A graduate of the Harvard Medical School and Columbia University School of Public Health, he originally trained in General Surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, also in the City of New York.
In addition to his responsibilities at Kellogg, Dr. Hughes founded the University's Center for Health Services and Policy Research (now the Institute for Health Policy Studies) and served as its Director for seventeen years. He also served as the Director of Kellogg's Health Enterprise Management Program and was the founder of Kellogg's joint MD-MBA Degree Program. Professor Hughes has played a central role in the development of the Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology/Medical Device curriculum at Kellogg and for many years served as Co-Director of Kellogg's Biotechnology Program. He was also a Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Feinberg School of Medicine.
In addition to his academic responsibilities, in 2015, Dr. Hughes was elected President of the Faculty Senate of Northwestern University, the senior governing body of the Faculty Senate of the entire University. In addition to serving in that office for the academic year 2015-2016, Dr. Hughes served in the formal office of Past President for both of the academic years 2016-2017 and 2017-2018.
Dr. Hughes' research interests entail the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries; the efficient utilization of resources in healthcare; health policy and economics; the physician's role in the healthcare system; managed care; and Leadership.
In addition to his teaching "Critical Issues in the Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology, and Medical Device Industries" in the Healthcare at Kellogg Program, Professor Hughes taught "Perspectives on Leadership," an elective course in the Kellogg Architecture of Collaboration Initiative.