- The parent article is at List of University of Michigan alumni
This is a partial list of notable alumni in law, government and public policy from the University of Michigan. Please refer also to the below list:
Governors and Lieutenant Governors
As of 2021, Michigan has matriculated 63 governors or lieutenant governors.
Michigan
- Wilber Marion Brucker (A.B. 1916), 32nd Governor of Michigan 1931–1933; United States Secretary of the Army 1955–1961[29]
- John Cherry (MPA 1984), Lt. Governor of Michigan; former state senator
- William Comstock (A.B. 1899), 33rd Governor of Michigan[30]
- Woodbridge N. Ferris (MD 1874), educator and politician; founder and president of the Ferris Industrial School (later Ferris State University); president of the Big Rapids Savings Bank; governor of Michigan (1913–1916); elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1922 and served from 1923 until his death in 1928[31]
- Garlin Gilchrist II (born September 25, 1982) is an American politician and activist who is currently serving as lieutenant governor of Michigan.
- Fred W. Green (LAW: 1898), mayor of Ionia, Michigan before he served as the 31st Governor of Michigan from 1927 to 1931[32]
- Martha Wright Griffiths (LAW: JD 1940), Congressional Representative; elected to the Michigan state house of representatives 1948–1952; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fourth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (1955–1974); lieutenant Governor of Michigan 1982–1991[33]
- George Griswold was an American politician and tenth Lieutenant Governor from the U. S. state of Michigan.
- Alex Goresbeck (LAW: LLB 1893), 30th Governor of Michigan[34]
- Patrick Henry Kelley (LAW: JD 1900), Congressional Representative from Michigan; member of the state board of education 1901–1905; state superintendent of public instruction 1905–1907; Lieutenant Governor of Michigan 1907–1911; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-third and to the four succeeding Congresses (1913–1923)[35]
- Dwight May In 1842, he attended the Kalamazoo branch of the University of Michigan (now Kalamazoo College), entered the sophomore class in 1846, and graduated in 1849 from the classical department. In 1866, May was elected the 18th Lieutenant Governor of Michigan as well as trustee of the village of Kalamazoo.
- Joseph R. McLaughlin, entrepreneur and politician from Michigan; Lieutenant Governor 1895–1897
- Kimber Cornellus "Kim" Sigler, 40th Governor of Michigan 1947–1949[36]
- Rick Snyder (LSA, LAW, BUS), 48th Governor of Michigan; former president and COO of Gateway Computers[37]
- Murray Delos Van Wagoner (COE: BA CE 1921), 38th Governor of Michigan 1941–1942[38]
- G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams (LAW: JD), six-term Democratic Governor of Michigan (1948–1960); Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice[39]
- Edwin B. Winans (LAW), U.S. Representative; 22nd Governor of Michigan
Outside Michigan
- Thomas Burton Adams Jr. was an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. A Democrat, he served in the Florida Senate (1956–1960), as Secretary of State of Florida (1961–1971), and as the tenth Lieutenant Governor of Florida (1971–1975).
- George Ariyoshi (J.D. 1952), third governor of Hawaii (1974–1986)[40]
- Theodore G. Bilbo was an American politician who twice served as governor of Mississippi (1916–20, 1928–32) and later was elected a U.S. Senator (1935–47).
- William John Bulow (LAW: JD 1893), Senator from South Dakota; member of State Senate 1899; mayor of Beresford 1912–1913; county judge of Union County, 1918; Governor of South Dakota 1927–1931; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1930; reelected in 1936 and served 1931–1943; chairman of Committee on the Civil Service (Seventy-third through Seventy-seventh Congresses)[41]
- David Francis Cargo (BA 1951, MA 1953; LAW: LLB 1957), Governor of New Mexico, 1967–71; New Mexico State House of Representatives Albuquerque (1963–67)[42]
- Fenimore Chatterton, Republican, governor of Wyoming (1903–1905)[43]
- Chase Addison Clark, Democrat, governor of Idaho (1941–1943)[44]
- Thomas Cuming (A.B. 1845) military officer; first Secretary of Nebraska Territory; twice was the territory's acting Governor, after the death of Francis Burt and after the resignation of Mark W. Izard
- Cushman Kellogg Davis (AB 1857), governor of Minnesota (1874–1876); U.S. Senator (1887–1900)[45]
- Thomas E. Dewey (B.A. 1923), governor of New York (1943–1954); unsuccessfully ran as Republican nominee for president in 1944 and 1948[46]
- Frank Emerson (B.S. 1904), governor of Wyoming (1927–1931)[47]
- Ralph F. Gates (BA 1915; LAW: JD 1917), Governor of Indiana, 1945–49[48]
- John L. Gibbs was a Minnesota legislator, two-time Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota.
- Joseph B. Gill was an American politician. Between 1893 and 1897 he served as Lieutenant Governor of Illinois.
- Morley Isaac Griswold governor of Nevada (1934–1935) Republican[49]
- Philip Hart was an American lawyer and politician.
- Paul M. Herbert was an American politician of the Republicanparty who served three separate tenures as the 47th, 49th and 52nd Lieutenant Governor of Ohio.
- Francis Grant "Frank" Higgins, first native-born person from Montana to become a member of the state's bar and of its legislature; served in the Montana House of Representatives; mayor of Missoula, Montana in 1892; fourth Lieutenant Governor of Montana, 1901–1905
- Lyman Underwood Humphrey, Republican, governor of Kansas (1889–1893)[50]
- Arthur Mastick Hyde, Republican, governor of Missouri (1921–1925)[51]
- John N. Irwin, businessman; diplomat; Mayor of Keokuk, Iowa; Governor of Idaho Territory; Governor of Arizona Territory; U.S. Minister to Portugal
- Gideon S. Ives was an American politician who served as Mayor of St. Peter, Minnesota, Minnesota State Senator and as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota.
- Clement Field Kimball (LAW), Lieutenant Governor of Iowa 1925–1928
- Elbert L. Lampson, 21st Lieutenant Governor of Ohio; former State Senator
- Washington Ellsworth Lindsey, Republican, governor of New Mexico (1917–1919)[52]
- Oren Ethelbirt Long (AB 1916), Senator from Hawaii; superintendent of public instruction, Territory of Hawaii 1934–1946; secretary of Territory of Hawaii 1946–1951; appointed Governor of Territory of Hawaii 1951–1953; member and vice chairman, Hawaii Statehood Commission 1954–1956; territorial senator, Territory of Hawaii 1956–1959; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate on July 28, 1959; upon the admission of Hawaii as a State into the Union on August 21, 1959, drew the four-year term beginning on that day and ending January 3, 1963[53]
- Ernest Whitworth Marland (LAW: JD 1893), Congressional Representative from Oklahoma; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress (1933–1935); elected Governor of Oklahoma in 1934 for the four-year term commencing January 14, 1935[54]
- George de Rue Meiklejohn (LAW: JD 1880), Congressional Representative from Nebraska; member of the State senate 1884–1888 and served as its president 1886–1888; chairman of the Republican State convention of 1887; chairman of the Republican State central committee in 1887 and 1888; Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska 1889–1891; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses (1893–1897); appointed by President McKinley as Assistant Secretary of War April 14, 1897, and served until March 1901, when he resigned[55]
- Julius Sterling Morton, appointed Secretary of Nebraska Territory by President James Buchanan on July 12, 1858, a position he held until 1861; Acting Governor of Nebraska 1858–1859
- Culbert Olson, lawyer; Democratic Party member; Governor of California (1939–1943)[56]
- Walter Marcus Pierce (MDNG), Congressional Representative from Oregon; engaged in banking and in the power and light business 1898–1907; served in the Oregon senate 1903–1907 and 1917–1921; Governor of Oregon 1923–1927; member of the board of regents of Oregon State College 1905–1927; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third and to the four succeeding Congresses (1933–1943)[57]
- Ridgley C. Powers, governor of Mississippi (1871–1874)[58]
- Donald Stuart Russell, Democrat, governor of South Carolina (1963–1965)[59]
- John Franklin Shafroth, governor of Colorado (1909–1913)[60]
- Robert Theodore Stafford (AB), Congressional Representative and a Senator from Vermont; deputy State attorney general 1953–1955; State attorney general 1955–1957; lieutenant Governor 1957–1959; Governor of Vermont 1959–1961; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-seventh Congress in 1960; reelected to the five succeeding Congresses and served from January 3, 1961, until his resignation from the House of Representatives, September 16, 1971, to accept appointment the same day to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Winston L. Prouty; elected by special election January 7, 1972, to complete the unexpired term ending January 3, 1977; reelected in 1976 and again in 1982 for the term ending January 3, 1989;[61]
- William Story, federal judge; seventh Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, serving 1891–1893 under John Long Routt
- Charles Spalding Thomas (LAW: JD 1871), Senator from Colorado; member of the Democratic National Committee 1884–1896; Governor of Colorado 1899–1901; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1913 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Charles J. Hughes, Jr.; reelected in 1914, and served 1913–1921; chairman, Committee on Woman Suffrage (Sixty-third and Sixty-fourth Congresses), Committee on Coast Defenses (Sixty-fifth Congress), Committee on Pacific Railroads (Sixty-sixth Congress);[62]
- Harriett Woods (AB 1949), Missouri's first female lieutenant governor; a Democrat; Missouri's lieutenant governor in 1984 and served one term as the state's No. 2 executive; previously served eight years in the state Senate, two years on a state transportation commission and eight years on the University City Council; first female editor of the U-M newspaper
- Richard Yates, Republican governor of Illinois (1901–1905)[63]
Ambassadors
As of 2022, Michigan has matriculated 64 Ambassadors who served as Ambassador in more than 72 countries.
- H. Gardner Ackley (MA, PhD), former Henry Carter Adams Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Political Economy; on U-M faculty for 43 years; leader in national economic affairs for several decades, including serving as adviser to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson; an expert on the Italian economy, he was also ambassador to Italy
- Robert Worth Bingham, newspaper publisher and U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. Bingham was graduated from the Bingham School in 1888 and attended The University of North Carolina from 1888 to 1891. He received the LL.B. degree from the University of Louisville in 1897. After a year of postgraduate study at the University of Michigan, Bingham commenced practice in Louisville, Ky.
- Donald Blome is an American diplomat currently serving as United States Ambassador to Tunisia. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan as well as of its law school; nominated in 2021 to serve as Ambassador to Pakistanl;
- Paul H. Boeker (MA Economics), United States Ambassador to Jordan (1984–87); Director of Foreign Service Institute (1980–83); United States Ambassador to Bolivia (1977–80)
- Anson Burlingame, United States Ambassador to China (1861–70)
- Lawrence E. Butler (BUS: MBA), US Ambassador to Macedonia (2002–05); UN Official Principal Deputy High Representative in Bosnia-Herzegovina (2005–present); US Ambassador to Macedonia (2002–05); US National Security Council Staff, Director of European Affairs (1997–99); US Ambassador to Serbia ad interim (1995–96); US State Department Deputy Chief of Mission, Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro (−1995); US State Department Deputy Chief of Mission, Copenhagen, Denmark (past); US State Department Deputy Chief of Mission, Dublin, Ireland (past)
- William I. Cargo (B.A. Class of 1933), appointed U.S. Ambassador to Nepal in 1973
- Vicente Blanco Gaspar, ambassador of Spain
- Luis CdeBaca (J.D. 1993), Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons at the United States Department of State; lead trial counsel in the largest slavery prosecution in U.S. history
- Brutus J. Clay II (COE: 1868), appointed Minister to Switzerland in 1905, served until 1910
- E. William Crotty (J.D.) Ambassador to Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. On November 19, 1998, E. William Crotty was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Barbados. Born on June 28, 1931, in Claremont, New Hampshire, Mr. Crotty graduated from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in economics. He earned a J.D. from University of Michigan Law School, where he was a Frederick L. Leckie Scholar. Mr. Crotty received a Masters of Law in Taxation from the New York University Law School.
- Gerrit J. Diekema (LAW), appointed United States Minister to the Netherlands by President Herbert Hoover in 1929, and served until his death in The Hague, Netherlands
- Robert F. Ellsworth (J.D. 1949), U.S. Representative from Kansas (1961–1969); United States Permanent Representative to NATO (1969–1971)
- Brian James Proetel Fall, Britain's Ambassador to Russia (1992–95)
- Homer S. Ferguson (B.A. 1913), judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals (1956–1971); Ambassador to the Philippines (1955–1956); judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals at Washington, D.C., 1956–1971; U.S. Senator from Michigan (1943–1955); circuit judge of the circuit court for Wayne County, Michigan (1929–1942)
- Robert E. Fritts (B.A.) In 1974 at age 39, he became the then-youngest ambassador in the history of the Foreign Service when assigned to Rwanda, a record he wryly recalled "lasted about six months". He later served as the U.S. ambassador to Ghana during a period of fluctuating bilateral relations.
- John Godfrey (diplomat) (M.A.) Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of the Sudan
- James Goodby (MDNG: 1951–1952), United States Ambassador to Finland (1980–1981)
- David Hermelin (BUS: BBA 1958), entrepreneur; philanthropist; former United States Ambassador to Norway; Ross School benefactor
- Pete Hoekstra (MBA)is a Dutch-American politician who served as the United States Ambassador to the Netherlands from January 10, 2018, to January 17, 2021.
- Aubrey Hooks (MA 1984), US Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire
- John Nichol Irwin, businessman; politician; diplomat; Mayor of Keokuk, Iowa; Governor of Idaho Territory; Governor of Arizona Territory; U.S. Minister to Portugal
- Susan S. Jacobs, former U.S. Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu
- Richard Kauzlarich (MA), US Ambassador to Azerbaijan 1994–1997 and to Bosnia and Herzegovina 1997–1999
- Leo J. Keena, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as the United States Ambassador to Honduras 1935–1937; United States Ambassador to South Africa 1937–1942
- W. Robert Kohorst (J.D.) of California to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Croatia. He earned a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
- David Kostelancik (MA), Ambassador to Hungary. Mr. Kostelancik has served as Chargé d'Affaires, ad interim of the Mission since January 20, 2017. From August, 2014 until August, 2015 he served as the Senior State Department Advisor to the Congressional Helsinki Commission. From July, 2012 until August, 2014 he served as Director of the Office of Russian Affairs in the Department of State's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
- Philip Lader (LSA: MA), United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom 1997–2001
- Melvyn Levitsky (BA), retired career Minister in the U.S. Foreign Service; teaches international relations at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy; Senior Fellow of the School's International Policy Center; had 35-year career as a U.S. diplomat, Ambassador to Brazil 1994–98; former Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, Executive Secretary of the State Department, Ambassador to Bulgaria, Deputy Director of the Voice of America, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights
- María Dora Victoriana Mejía Marulanda (B.A., M.A.), Ambassador of Colombia to Sweden
- Fenton R. McCreery, Ambassador to Honduras
- Douglas L. McElhaney (BA International Affairs), US Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina 2004–present; entered the Foreign Service in 1975
- Joseph R. McLaughlin, entrepreneur; politician; Lieutenant Governor of Michigan 1895–1897
- William Bryant Milam (MA 1970), US Ambassador to Pakistan, 1998–2001
- Earl R. Miller, U.S. Ambassador to Botswana Term of Appointment: 12/18/2014 to present Mr. Miller was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Botswana on December 18, 2014. Ambassador Miller, a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, joined the Department of State in 1987
- David Miller, Jr. (J.D.) He served as the United States ambassador to Tanzania from 1981 to 1984 and to Zimbabwe from 1984 to 1986.
- Thomas J. Miller (PhD 1975), U.S. ambassador to Greece; U.S. ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina
- José Teodoro Moscoso Mora (B.A. 1932), named Moscoso ambassador to Venezuela by President Kennedy in 1961
- Robert G. Neumann (Ph.D. 1946), former United States Ambassador to Afghanistan 1969–73; Director, Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Georgetown University (1976–81); US Ambassador to Saudi Arabia (June 1981 to July 1981), United States Ambassador to Morocco (1973–76)
- David George Newton (MA 1970), US Ambassador to Iraq, 1984–88
- Elliot Northcott, Ambassador to Colombia and Venezuela
- Thomas J.O'Brien (LAW), ambassador to Denmark, Japan and Italy
- Susan D. Page (A.B.), nominated in 2011 by President Obama to the post of U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan
- Thomas W. Palmer, appointed US Minister to Spain in 1889 by President Benjamin Harrison; served 1889–1890
- Mark A. Pekala (A.B. 1981), U.S. ambassador to Latvia in 2012
- Nancy Bikoff Pettit (M.A.), Ambassador Pettit was confirmed by the Senate on June 24, 2015, as the Ambassador to the Republic of Latvia. She is a career member of the Foreign Service, Class of Minister Counselor. Prior to arriving in Riga, she served as Director of the Office of Western European Affairs in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, a position she held from 2013 to 2015.
- William E. Quinby, newspaper publisher; diplomat; United States Ambassador to the Netherlands
- Clark T. Randt, Jr. (LAW: JD 1975), US Ambassador to China, 2001–2009
- Kenneth Salazar confirmed as Ambassador to Mexico in August 2021.
- Joseph C. Satterthwaite (B.A. M.A.) served as United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka from 1949 to 1952, Head of the U.S. Legation at Tangier from 1953 to 1955, and as United States Ambassador to Burma from April 1955 to April 1957.
- Margaret Scobey (Ph.D.), US Ambassador to Syria; US Ambassador to Egypt as of 2008
- Marshall D. Shulman (A.B. 1937), principal architect of Columbia University's Russian studies program; longest serving director of the Russian Institute at Columbia; ambassador as the principal adviser on Soviet matters to Secretary of State Cyrus R. Vance in the Carter administration; speechwriter for Secretary of State Dean G. Acheson; author of Stalin's Foreign Policy Reappraised (1963), a staple in Soviet studies for many years; his 1966 book of lectures, Beyond the Cold War, foreshadowed the détente between the Soviet Union and the US that occurred during the Nixon administration
- William Graves Sharp (LAW: JD 1881), Congressional Representative from Ohio; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-first, Sixty-second, and Sixty-third Congresses; served 1909–1914, when he resigned to become Ambassador to France, in which capacity he served until April 14, 1919
- William Story, federal judge; seventh Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, serving 1891–1893 under John Long Routt
- Louis B. Susman (A.B.), former Vice Chairman of Citigroup Capital Markets; nominated as Ambassador to Great Britain in 2009
- Edwin Uhl, Acting US Secretary of State and Ambassador to Germany during the Cleveland Administration
- Jack Hood Vaughn (BA, MA), second Director of the United States Peace Corps; ambassador to Colombia and Panama
- Howard Kent Walker, diplomat; Foreign Service officer; former United States Ambassador to Togo, Madagascar, and Comoros
- Charles B. Warren (B.A. 1891), U.S. Ambassador to Japan 1921–1922; Ambassador to Mexico in 1924
- Ronald N. Weiser (BUS: BBA 1966), US Ambassador to Slovak Republic; founder of McKinley Associates
- G. Mennen Williams (J.D.), Ambassador to the Philippines; heir to a personal grooming products fortune, he was known as "Soapy"
- Susan L. Ziadeh (Ph.D.) has enjoyed a 23-year career with the U.S. Department of State where she most recently served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (2014-2016). From May–October 2016, Amb. Ziadeh served as NEA Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary. She is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor, and served as the U.S. Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 2011 to 2014.
Judiciary
- J. Leroy Adair (LAW: JD 1911), Congressional Representative from Illinois; member of the State senate 1928–1932; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth Congresses (1933–1937); appointed United States district judge for the southern district of Illinois in 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served until his death in 1956
- Charles H. Aldrich (A.B. 1875), the Solicitor General of the United States
- George G. Bingham (LLB 1880), judge in Oregon, dean of Willamette University College of Law[66]
- Brian Blanchard (BA 1980), Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
- Jackson Burton Chase (LAW: LLB 1913), Congressional Representative from Nebraska; assistant attorney general of Nebraska in 1921 and 1922; member of the State House of Representatives in 1933 and 1934; served as a major, Judge Advocate General's Department, 1942–1945; chairman of Nebraska Liquor Control Commission in 1945 and 1946; judge of the fourth judicial district court of Nebraska, 1946–1954; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-fourth Congress (1955–1957); again elected judge of the fourth judicial district court of Nebraska 1956–1960
- John Logan Chipman (1843–1845), Congressional Representative from Michigan; attorney of the police board of Detroit 1867–1879; elected judge of the superior court of Detroit 1879; reelected in 1885 and served until 1887, when he resigned, having been elected to Congress; elected as a Democrat to the Fiftieth and to the three succeeding Congresses; served from 1887 until his death in 1893
- George Pierre Codd (AB 1891), Congressional Representative from Michigan; mayor of Detroit in 1905 and 1906; circuit judge of Wayne County 1911–1921; regent of the University of Michigan in 1910 and 1911; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-seventh Congress (1921–1923); again elected circuit judge of Wayne County in 1924 and served until his death in 1927
- Avern Cohn (LAW: JD 1949), district judge for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1979
- Louis Convers Cramton (LAW: JD 1899), Congressional Representative from Michigan; law clerk of the State senate three terms; deputy commissioner of railroads of Michigan in 1907; secretary of the Michigan Railroad Commission from September 1907 to January 1, 1909; member of the State house of representatives in 1909 and 1910; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-third and to the eight succeeding Congresses (1913–1931); circuit judge of the fortieth judicial circuit 1934–1941
- Shepard J. Crumpacker, Jr. (LAW: JD 1941), Congressional Representative from Indiana; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-second, Eighty-third, and Eighty-fourth Congresses (1951–1957); appointed judge of the St. Joseph Superior Court and served 1977–1985
- Marc Dann (B.A. 1984), 47th attorney general of Ohio
- Harry Micajah Daugherty (LAW: LL.B), Ohio Republican political insider; Attorney General of the United States under Presidents Harding and Coolidge
- Robert Emory Evans (LAW: JD 1886), Congressional Representative from Nebraska; prosecuting attorney of Dakota County in 1895; resigned to become judge of the eighth judicial district, in which capacity he served from 1895 to 1899; president of the Nebraska State Bar Association in 1919; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses (1919–1923); elected judge of the supreme court from the third district of Nebraska in 1924
- Homer Samuel Ferguson (AB 1913), Senator from Michigan; circuit judge of the circuit court for Wayne County, 1929–1942; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1942; reelected in 1948 and served 1943–1955; Ambassador to the Philippines 1955–1956; judge of the United States Court of Military Appeals at Washington, D.C., 1956–1971
- George Ford (LAW: JD 1869), Congressional Representative from Indiana; elected as a Democrat to the Forty-ninth Congress (1885–1887); elected judge of the superior court of St. Joseph County in 1914
- Ralph M. Freeman (LAW: LL.B. 1926), Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; nominated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1954; chief judge 1967–1972; assumed senior status in 1973
- Ronald M. Gould (LAW: 1973), federal appeals judge; has served on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals since 1999; nominated by President Bill Clinton, confirmed by the United States Senate on November 17, and received his commission on November 22
- Barzillai Gray (AB: 1845), judge
- Byron Berry Harlan (LAW: JD 1909; LS&A: 1911), Congressional Representative from Ohio; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-second and to the three succeeding Congresses (1931–1939); chairman, Committee on Revision of the Laws (Seventy-second and Seventy-third Congresses); appointed judge of the Tax Court of the United States in 1946 to his death in 1949
- James Harvey (LAW: LLB 1948), Congressional Representative from Michigan; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-seventh and to the six succeeding Congresses (1961–1974); appointed by President Richard Nixon as a United States District Court judge for the Eastern District, Michigan, 1974–1984; United States Senior District judge, 1984–2002
- Guy Tresillian Helvering (LAW: JD 1906), Congressional Representative from Kansas; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-third, Sixty-fourth, and Sixty-fifth Congresses (1913–1919); Democratic State chairman 1930–1934; mayor of Salina from February 15, 1926, until his resignation on December 8, 1930; State highway director in 1931 and 1932; appointed Commissioner of Internal Revenue by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 and served until his appointment as a Federal district judge for Kansas in 1943, in which capacity he was serving at the time of his death in 1946
- Douglas Woodruff Hillman (LAW: JD 1948), practiced law in Grand Rapids for 30 years before President Carter appointed him to the federal court in 1979; retired from the bench in 2002
- Jay Abel Hubbell (AB 1853), Congressional Representative from Michigan; prosecuting attorney of Houghton County 1861–1867; elected as a Republican to the Forty-third and to the four succeeding Congresses (1873–1883); chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Department of the Interior (Forty-seventh Congress); member of the State senate 1885–1887; served as circuit judge of the twelfth judicial circuit from 1894 to 1899, when he resigned
- William Leonard Hungate (MDNG), Congressional Representative from Missouri; special assistant attorney general 1958–1964; elected simultaneously as a Democrat to the Eighty-eighth and to the Eighty-ninth Congress by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of United States Representative Clarence Cannon, and reelected to the five succeeding Congresses (1964–1977); professor, University of Missouri, St. Louis, 1977–1979; justice, United States district judge for the eastern district of Missouri, 1979–1992; president, American Bar Association's National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, 1985–1986
- Edwin William Keightley (LAW: JD 1865), Congressional Representative from Michigan; appointed and subsequently elected judge of the fifteenth judicial circuit of Michigan in 1876 and served until 1877, having been elected to Congress; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth Congress (1877–1879); appointed by President Hayes Third Auditor of the United States Treasury Department and served from 1879 to 1885, when he resigned
- Moses Pierce Kinkaid (LAW: JD 1876), Congressional Representative from Nebraska; member of the State senate in 1883; district judge 1887–1900; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-eighth and to the nine succeeding Congresses and served from 1903 until his death in 1922; chairman, Committee on Irrigation of Arid Lands (Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses)
- Carolyn N. Lerner (born January 13, 1965) is an American lawyer from Washington, D.C., who is a Judge-designate of the United States Court of Federal Claims.
- William Lewis (MDNG), Congressional Representative from Kentucky; studied law at the University of Kentucky at Lexington and at U-M; member of State House of Representatives in 1900 and 1901; Commonwealth attorney 1904–1909; circuit judge of the twenty-seventh judicial district of Kentucky 1909–1922 and 1928–1934; elected as a Republican to the Eightieth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John Marshall Robsion and served 1948–1949
- Gordon Myse (LAW: LLB 1960), Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
- James Carson Needham (LAW: JD 1889), Congressional Representative from California; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses (1899–1913); appointed judge of the superior court of California in 1919; elected to the same office in 1920 to fill an unexpired term; reelected in 1922 and again in 1926, and served until 1935
- Darleen Ortega (LAW: JD 1989), judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals
- Samuel Ritter Peters (LAW: JD 1867), Congressional Representative from Kansas; mayor of Memphis in 1873; elected a member of the State senate in 1874 and served until his resignation in March 1875; appointed and subsequently elected judge of the ninth judicial district and served from 1875 until 1883, when he resigned; elected as a Republican to the Forty-eighth and to the three succeeding Congresses (1883–1891); postmaster of Newton 1898–1910; editor of the Newton Daily Kansan-Republican in 1899
- Rosemary S. Pooler (LAW: JD), U.S. federal judge; appointed in 1990 as a Justice for the Fifth Judicial District Supreme Court; appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton, serving 1994–1998 as federal district judge in the Northern District of New York; received her current appointment as a Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1998
- Joseph Very Quarles (AB 1966; LAW: JD 1867), Senator from Wisconsin; mayor of Kenosha 1876; member of state assembly 1879; member of state senate 1880–1882; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served 1899–1905; chairman, Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard (Fifty-sixth Congress), Committee on the Census (Fifty-seventh and Fifty-eighth Congresses); appointed United States district judge for the eastern district of Wisconsin by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1905, and served until his death in 1911
- Ozora P. Stearns (AB 1858, LAW: JD 1860), Senator from Minnesota; mayor of Rochester 1866–1868; served in the Union Army during the Civil War as a lieutenant, and then colonel; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1871 and served until 1871; judge of the eleventh judicial district of Minnesota 1874–1895; regent of the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis 1890–1895
- Carl May Weideman (MDNG), Congressional Representative from Michigan; attended the public schools and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor from 1914 until the outbreak of the First World War; delegate to the Democratic State conventions 1932–1944 and to the Democratic National Convention in 1940; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress (19331935); circuit judge for the third judicial circuit of Michigan 1950–1968
Justices: Appeals and Circuit Courts
More than 75 Michigan alumni have served on Appeals or Circuit Courts.
- G. Gordon Atcheson (BA) Judge of the Kansas Court of Appeals
- Francis E. Baker (BA) JudgeSenior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- Jane M. Beckering (BA) she is a judge of the 3rd District of the Michigan Court of Appeals.
- Corinne A. Beckwith (LAW) Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- Richard Bilby (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
- Bruce D. Black (LAW) was a judge on the New Mexico Court of Appeals from 1991 to 1995.
- Brian Blanchard (BA) Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals District IV
- Charles D. Breital (BA) Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
- Bruce Bromley (BA) was appointed by Governor Thomas E. Dewey to the New York Court of Appeals
- Bailey Brown (AB) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- John Robert Brown (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- Tovah R. Calderon (BA) District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- Thomas Cane (BBA) Cane was a Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge from 1972 until his appointment to the Court of Appeals in 1981. He later served as a Presiding Judge from 1984 to 1998.
- John Emmett Carland (BA) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- Lester LeFevre Cecil (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Margaret Chutich (LAW) Associate Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals
- Leroy John Contie Jr. (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- John Hazelton Cotteral (BA) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Sean Cox (BGS) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Robert Danhof (LAW) In 1969, Danhof was appointed to the Michigan Court of Appeals and served as Chief judge.
- William R. Day (BS) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Pat DeWine (LAW) won a seat on the 1st District Ohio District Courts of Appeals in 2012
- Joshua Deahl (LAW) Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- Rebecca Duncan (LAW) served on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 2010 to 2017.
- David M. Ebel (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Harry T. Edwards (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Albert J. Engel Jr. (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Homer S. Ferguson (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
- John Warner Fitzgerald (LAW) Fitzgerald practiced in the law firm of Fitzgerald & Wirbel until he was elected to the Michigan Court of Appeals in 1964.
- William Ball Gilbert (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Ronald M. Gould (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Roger Gregory (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Richard Allen Griffin (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Ralph B. Guy Jr. (LAW) Presiding Judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review
- Amalya Lyle Kearse (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Shiro Kashiwa (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- W. Wallace Kent (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Raymond Kethledge (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Noël A. Kramer (LAW) Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- Amy Ronanye Krause (BA) is a judge of the Michigan Court of appeals 4th District.
- Charles Levin (judge) (LAW) Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals
- Thomas Francis McAllister (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Susan Bieke Neilson (AB) Neilson was nominated to a Michigan seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Helen W. Nies (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- David McKeague (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Wilbur Kingsbury Miller (BA) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Gordon Myse (LAW) Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
- Susan Bieke Neilson (AB) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Stewart Albert Newblatt (LAW) He was a judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit of Michigan from 1962 to 1970.
- Elliott Northcott (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- Richard Lowell Nygaard (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Darleen Ortega (LAW) Judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals
- Orie Leon Phillips (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- Cecil F. Poole (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Rosemary S. Pooler (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Chad Readler (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Albert L. Rendlen (LAW)Judge Rendlen was a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Eastern District
- Henry Wade Rogers (BA, MA) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- John M. Rogers (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Gilbert M. Roman (LAW) Judge of the Colorado Court of Appeals
- Anthony Joseph Scirica (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Susan Segal (LAW) Chief Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals
- Charles Casper Simons (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Cynthia Stevens (BA) Judge of the Michigan Court of Appeals for the First District
- Deanell Reece Tacha (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- David S. Tatel (LAW) Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- Arba Seymour Van Valkenburgh (AB) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- Melissa L. Tatum (LAW) Tatum served as a member of the Navajo Nation's Rules Harmonization Project, co-authoring a report on Navajo Nation Proceedings and Outside Review. She sat as a judge on the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals from 1999 to 2006.
- Kurtis T. Wilder (LAW) In December 1998, Governor Engler elevated Wilder to the Michigan First District Court of Appeals.
- Ann Claire Williams (MA) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- John M. Walker Jr. (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Elizabeth Kronk Warner (LAW) she is an appellate judge in Michigan for the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians Court of Appeals.
- J. Walter Yeagley (JD) Senior Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Justices: District Courts
As of 2021, 71 Michigan alumni have served on District Courts. Of those who served, 16 have served as Chief Justice.
- Cathy Ann Bencivengo (JD) Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California*Richard Bilby (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona
- Jane M. Beckering (born 1965)[1] is a judge of the 3rd District of the Michigan Court of Appeals and a United States District Judge–Designate of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
- Paul D. Borman (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Clarence Addison Brimmer, Jr. (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming
- Leonie Brinkema (MDNG) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Paul G. Byron (A.B.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
- Aileen Cannon (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
- John Emmett Carland (A.B.) Judge of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota
- Edmond Chang (BSE) Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Pamela K. Chen (B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- James Paul Churchill (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan; Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Chase A. Clark (MDNG) on US District Court for the District of Idaho. He served as Chief Judge from 1954 to 1964.
- Avern Cohn (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Sean Cox (B.G.S.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- John Davies (B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
- J. Mac Davis (LAW) Chief Judge of the 3rd District of Wisconsin Circuit Courts
- William Louis Day (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- Ann Donnelly (B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- Gershwin A. Drain (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Cristobal C. Duenas was the chief judge of the United States District Court of Guam from 1959 to 1961.
- Gregory Kent Frizzell (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma
- Sarah Geraghty (born 1974)[1] is an American lawyer from Georgia who serves as senior counsel for the Southern Center for Human Rights. She is a nominee to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
- Mark A. Goldsmith (B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Ralph B. Guy Jr. (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- R. James Harvey (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Jeffrey James Helmick (B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- Guy T. Helvering (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
- H. Russel Holland (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Alaska
- Marilyn L. Huff (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- Carol E. Jackson (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
- Hala Y. Jarbou (B.B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- Ralph E. Jenney (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California
- Paul Jones (judge) (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- Robert James Jonker (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Shalina D. Kumar (born 1971)[1] is an American attorney and jurist from Michigan who is a United States District Judge–Designate of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
- Judith Ellen Levy (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Sheryl H. Lipman (B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee
- Joe Billy McDade (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- Howard D. McKibben (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada
- Glenn Everell Mencer (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- Laurie J. Michelson (A.B.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Frank Montalvo (M.S.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- James Byron Moran (June 20, 1930 – April 21, 2009) was a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
- Stewart Albert Newblatt (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- John Albert Nordberg (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Linda Vivienne Parker (BA) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Rosemary S. Pooler (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
- John William Potter (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio
- Nicholas Ranjan (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- Victoria A. Roberts (B.A.) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Jennifer L. Rochon is an American lawyer who is a nominee to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
- Stephen John Roth (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Mary M. Rowland (B.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Anthony Joseph Scirica (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Shira Scheindlin (B.A.) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Steven C. Seeger (LAW) Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Norma Levy Shapiro (B.A.) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- Charles Casper Simons (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- Raymond Wesley Starr (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- George Caram Steeh III (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- Joseph Edward Stevens Jr. (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- William Story (attorney) (A.B.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas
- Cyrus Nils Tavares (LAW) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii
- Frank Gordon Theis (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas
- Nancy Torresen (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maine
- Arba Seymour Van Valkenburgh (A.B.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
- John M. Walker Jr. (LAW) Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- Frederick H. Weisberg is a former judge of senior status for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
- Ann Claire Williams (M.A.) Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- Thomas Samuel Zilly (BA) Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
National supreme court justices
- Irene Cortes (LL.M, S.J.D.), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 1987–1990; first female dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law
- Jaime Sifre Dávila (LAW) (November 24, 1887 – October 6, 1960) was an attorney and judge in Puerto Rico, ultimately serving as an Associate Justice and briefly as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.
- George A. Malcolm (LAW: JD 1906), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines 1917–1936; founder of the University of the Philippines College of Law
- David Mills (LAW: LLB 1867), Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada; served as Minister of the Interior in the Cabinet of Alexander Mackenzie 1876–1878; appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1902 and served for one year until his death in 1903; published The Present and Future Political Aspects of Canada in 1860 and The Blunders of the Dominion Government in Connection with the North-West Territory in 1871
- Frank Murphy Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
- Pieter Jacobus Rabie (1917–1997) was a senior South African judge during the apartheid era, and its Chief Justice from 1982 to 1989.
- Florenz Regalado was the 14th appointment by President Corazon Aquino to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from July 29, 1988, to October 13, 1998. He graduated magna cum laude in 1954 from the San Beda College of Law, and received his Master of Laws degree from the University of Michigan in 1963
- Maria Lourdes "Meilou" Aranal Sereno) (LLM) (Tagalog: [sɛˈrɛnɔ], born Maria Lourdes Punzalan Aranal; July 2, 1960) is a Filipina lawyer and judge who served as de facto Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2012 until 2018.
- Justice George Sutherland, United States Supreme Court
State supreme court justices
As of 2019, Michigan has placed onto various State Supreme Courts over 125 graduates, 40 of whom served as Chief Justice.
Michigan Supreme Court justices
Michigan Law School alumni
Michigan law has placed 36 of its graduates on the state's supreme court.[67] Of those who served, 16 served as Chief Justice.
- Clark J. Adams (LAW): 1927; On Court: 1952–1953)
- Paul L. Adams (LAW: 1936; On Court: 1962–1962 and 1964–1972)
- Emerson R. Boyles (LAW): 1903; On Court: 1940–1956)
- Henry M. Butzel (LAW: 1892; On Court: 1929–1955) served as Chief Justice in 1939
- William Leland Carpenter (LAW: 1878; On Court: 1902–1904)
- Leland W. Carr (LAW: 1906; On Court: 1941–1963) served as Chief Justice
- John R. Dethmers (LAW: 1927; On Court: 1946–1970), served as Chief Justice
- Louis H. Fead (LAW: 1900; On Court: 1928–1937), served as Chief Justice
- John W. Fitzgerald (LAW: 1954; On Court: 1974–1982), served as Chief Justice
- Richard C. Flannigan (LAW) was an American jurist and lawyer. (served as Chief Justice)
- Claudius B. Grant (A.B.) was an American jurist, legislator, and lawyer. (served as Chief Justice)
- Robert P. Griffin (LAW: 1950; On Court: 1987–1994)
- Frank A. Hooker (LAW: 1865; On Court: 1893–1907) (served as Chief Justice during 3 separate periods.
- Franz C. Kuhn (LAW: 1894; On Court: 1912–1919)
- Charles Leonard Levin (LAW: 1947; On Court: 1973–1996)
- Lawrence B. Lindemer (LAW: 1948; On Court: 1975–1976)
- Isaac Marston (LAW: 1861; On Court: 1875–1883) served as Chief Justice
- Thomas F. McAllister (LAW: 1921; On Court: 1938–1941)
- Aaron Vance McAlvay (LAW: 1869; On Court: 1905–1915)
- John W. McGrath (LAW: 1868; On Court: 1891–1895) served as Chief Justice
- Blair Moody (LAW: 1952; On Court: 1977–1982)
- Joseph B. Moore, studied for 1 year at Michigan Law (On Court: 1896–1926), served as Chief Justice over several periods
- Walter Harper North (LAW: 1899; On Court: 1927–1952) served as Chief Justice
- Russell C. Ostrander (LAW: 1876; On Court: 1905–1919) served as Chief Justice
- William W. Potter (LAW: 1895; On Court: 1928–1940), served as Chief Justice
- Talbot Smith (LAW: 1934; On Court: 1955–1961)
- Ernest A. Snow (LAW: 1896; On Court: 1926–1927)
- Theodore Souris (LAW: 1949; On Court: 1960–1968)
- Joseph H. Steere (LAW) was an American jurist. served as Chief Justice
- Raymond Wesley Starr (LAW: 1910; On Court: 1941–1946), Attorney General of Michigan from 1937 to 1938
- David Viviano (LAW: 1996; On Court: 2013–present)
- John D. Voelker (LAW: 1928; On Court: 1957–1959)
- Thomas Addis Emmett Weadock (LAW: 1873; On Court: 1933–1933)
- G. Mennen Williams (LAW: 1936; On Court: 1971–1986), served as Chief Justice
Alumni of other Michigan schools
Michigan Supreme Court Justices from other University of Michigan schools:
- Richard H. Bernstein (B.A.), lawyer and Michigan Supreme Court justice
- Charles A. Blair (B.A.) (1854–1912) was a member of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1905 until 1912.
- Megan Cavanagh (B.E.) is an attorney who was elected in November 2018 to become an associate justice of the Michigan Supreme Court with a term beginning in January 2019.
- Mary Beth Kelly (BA), justice of the Michigan Supreme Court, elected in November 2010
- Charles Leonard Levin (BA, LLB) was a U.S. jurist. He served as a Michigan Court of Appeals judge from 1966 to 1972 and as a justice of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1973 to 1996. He attended the University of Michigan where he received his B.A. in 1946 and his LL.B. in 1947 from the University of Michigan Law School.
- Rollin H. Person (LLB) He studied law at University of Michigan Law School and was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1873. Person served as Michigan circuit court judge from 1891 to 1899. Person then served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 1915 to 1917.
- Clifford Taylor (BA), Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court 2005–2009; appointed in 1997 by Republican Gov. John Engler; re-elected in 2000 to serve an eight-year term; in 2004, he was first chosen by the justices to serve as Chief Justice; in 1992, Gov. Engler appointed him to the Michigan Court of Appeals where he served until his appointment to the Michigan Supreme Court; co-author of Michigan Practice Guide on Torts
- Kurtis T. Wilder (AB, JD) He attended the University Michigan, graduating in 1981 with a A.B. degree in political science, and earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1984. On May 9, 2017, Governor Snyder appointed Wilder to the Michigan Supreme Court. Wilder will complete his predecessor Robert P. Young Jr.'s term in December 2018.
Illinois Supreme Court justices
- Joseph N. Carter (LLB) In 1894, Carter was named a candidate for the Supreme Court of Illinois to fill the vacancy of Simeon P. Shope. He was the youngest member of the court upon his election. He served one term as Chief Justice in 1898–1899.
- James H. Cartwright (MDNG) was an American jurist. He went to Mount Morris Seminary and University of Michigan. Cartwright served on the Illinois Supreme Court from 1895 until his death in 1924.
- William G. Clark (MDNG) In 1976, Clark was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court and served until 1992. He served as Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court from 1985 to 1988.
- Lott R. Herrick (JD) was an American lawyer and jurist. Herrick graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1894. From 1933 until his death in 1937, Herrick served on the Illinois Supreme Court.
- Loren E. Murphy (LLB) Murphy received his law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1906. From 1939 to 1948, Murphy served on the Illinois Supreme Court and was chief justice.
- Elwyn Riley Shaw (LLB) was a United States federal judge. Shaw received an LL.B. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1910, and immediately entered private practice in Freeport, Illinois. He was a judge on the Supreme Court of Illinois from 1933 to 1942, serving as Chief Justice from 1938 to 1939.
Indiana Supreme Court justices
- Timothy Edward Howard (MDNG) served 2191 days in office on the state of Indiana Supreme Court, preceded by Robert W. McBride succeeded by Francis E. Baker
- Isadore Levine (BA, JD) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Indiana from January 13, 1955, to May 23, 1955. He then received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1920, and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1921.
- Clarence R. Martin served on Indiana Supreme Court for 2192, proceeded by Louis B. Ewbank, succeeded by James P. Hughes
- Myra C. Selby (JD) In 1995, she was appointed to the Indiana Supreme Court, where she served as both the first African American and first woman appointed to the highest state court in Indiana.
- Oliver Starr (LLB) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Indiana from January 1, 1945, to January 1, 1951. Starr received an A.B. from Indiana University in 1905, and an LL.B. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1908.
- Allen Zollars (LLB) was a politician and judge in Indiana who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Indiana from January 1, 1883, to January 7, 1889.
Ohio Supreme Court justices
- Herbert R. Brown (JD) is a lawyer and author from the U.S. State of Ohio who sat on the Ohio Supreme Court for six years, then devoted his time to writing fiction.
- Robert H. Day He attended the University of Michigan for two years and graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1891. On November 9, 1922, Robert Day was elected to the Ohio Supreme Court, and was seated January 1, 1923. He was re-elected in November 1928 for another 6-year term. He served until his death in Columbus, Ohio September 29, 1933.
- Richard Patrick "Pat" DeWine is an American lawyer and an associate justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.
- William C. Dixon was an American government antitrust lawyer who had a two-month term as a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court in 1938.
- David Dudley Dowd Jr. (JD) received a Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1954. He was a Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1980 to 1981. He was in private practice in Canton, Ohio from 1981 to 1982
- William L. Hart (LLB) was a lawyer in the U.S. State of Ohio who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. He taught law at university, and was president of the Ohio State Bar Association.
- Paul M. Herbert (BA) served as a justice of the Ohio Supreme Court from 1963 to 1969.
- John Allen Shauck (LLB) was a Republican politician in the U.S. State of Ohio who was an Ohio Supreme Court Judge 1895–1914.
- Roy Hughes Williams (JD) was a lawyer from the U.S. State of Ohio who served as a prosecutor, local and appellate judge, and was a justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio from 1934 until his death.
Other state supreme courts
- Kazuhisa Abe (LAW) (January 18, 1914 – May 18, 1996)was a Democratic state senator and Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.
- Francis E. Baker (B.A.) (October 20, 1860 – March 15, 1924) was a United States federal judge. Born in Goshen, Indiana, Baker received a B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1882 and read law to enter the Bar in 1884.
- William H. Barnes (LLB) served as Assistant Justice on the Arizona Territorial Supreme Court from 1885 till 1889.
- Charles C. Black (LLB) was an associate justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New Jersey in 1904. He received a law degree from University of Michigan Law School in 1881.
- Charles Blakey Blackmar (J.D.), judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri 1982–1992; chief justice of the court 1989–1991
- Dario Borghesan is an American lawyer from Alaska who is an associate justice of the Alaska Supreme Court.
- Charles D. Breitel (B.A.) In 1950, Dewey appointed him a justice of the New York Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Samuel Null. In December 1950, Dewey re-appointed Breitel to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ferdinand Pecora. In November 1951, he was elected on the Republican and Democratic tickets to a 14-year term, and re-elected in 1965.
- Alfred Budge sat on the Idaho Supreme Court from 1914 to 1949. Serving at one time as the Chief Justice
- Rousseau Angelus Burch was an associate justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from September 29, 1902, to July 1, 1935, then Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court July 1, 1935 to January 11, 1937.
- Stephen Bushong (LAW), a judge on the Multnomah County Circuit Court of Oregon since 2008, will fill the Supreme Court vacancy in 2023.
- Charles C. Butler Justice and Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court
- John Emmett Carland was a United States federal judge. Carland attended the University of Michigan, and read law in 1877 to enter the Bar. He was the U.S. Attorney for the Dakota Territory from 1885 to 1888, and a Justice of the Dakota territorial Supreme Court in 1888 and 1889.
- Margaret Chutich (JD) is an American lawyer and judge, who has served as an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court since 2016, when she was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton.
- Robert N. Clinton is an American constitutional lawyer, and law professor at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, who sits on numerous native-American tribal appellate courts. In addition to teaching, he sits as Chief Justice of the Winnebago Supreme Court.
- Nathaniel P. Conrey (LLB) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from October 1, 1935, to November 2, 1936. His 36 years on the bench place him among the longest serving judges in California history.
- Jesse W. Curtis Sr. (LLB) was an American attorney who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from January 1, 1926, to January 1, 1945.
- Jaime Sifre Dávila (JD) was an attorney and judge in Puerto Rico, ultimately serving as an Associate Justice and briefly as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.
- James R. Dean (LLB) was a Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court from 1909 to 1910, and again from 1917 to 1935.
- Wallace B. Douglas (J.D.) (September 21, 1852 – December 9, 1930) was a lawyer, jurist, and politician and Justice of Minnesota's Supreme Court.
- James B. Drew (MDNG) was a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
- Rebecca Duncan (JD) is an American lawyer and judge, who has been an associate justice of the Oregon Supreme Court since 2017. She previously served on the Oregon Court of Appeals from 2010 to 2017.
- John P. Elkin (JD 1884) Associate Justice of the Supreme court of Pennsylvania
- Victor A. Elliott Victor Alanson Elliott (July 23, 1839 – February 5, 1899) was an associate justice of the Colorado Supreme Court from 1888 to 1895.
- Franz C. Eschweiler (MDNG) was an American jurist from Wisconsin. Eschweiler studied at the University of Michigan and the University of Iowa. In 1910, he was appointed a Wisconsin Circuit Court judge for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Eschweiler was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, in 1916, serving until his death in 1929.
- Robert E. Evans (JD) He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1886 and was admitted to the bar. He was elected Judge of the Supreme Court from the Third District of Nebraska in 1924. He served until his death on July 8, 1925.
- Bayard T. Hainer (1860–1933) was a Justice of the Territorial Oklahoma Supreme Court in 1898.
- Lawrence T. Harris (LLB) was an American politician and lawyer in the state of Oregon. He was the 45th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving from 1914 to 1924.
- Seneca Haselton (LLB) was a Vermont educator, attorney and politician. He is notable for his service as mayor of Burlington, Vermont (1891-1894), U.S. Minister to Venezuela (1894-1895), and an associate justice of the Vermont Supreme Court (1902–1906, 1908–1919).
- Albert H. Horton (March 12, 1837 – September 2, 1902) was Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from December 31, 1876, to April 30, 1895.
- Gilbert V. Indeglia (JD) is a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Indeglia is a 1959 graduate of Providence's Classical High School, a 1963 graduate of Boston College, and a 1966 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School.
- Orange Jacobs (MDNG) was an American lawyer, newspaper publisher, and politician. His career in government centered on the Territory of Washington, for which he served as a delegate to the U.S. Congress, chief justice of the territory's supreme court, mayor of Seattle, and other roles.
- William D. Keeton served on the Idaho Supreme Court from 1949 until 1959. Serving, for part of his tenure, as the Chief Justice
- Glenn E. Kelley was a Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1981 to 1990.
- La Vega G. Kinne (November 5, 1846 – March 15, 1906) was a Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court from January 1, 1892, to December 31, 1897, appointed from Tama County.
- William H. King (JD) After holding local offices and serving two terms in the territorial legislature, he graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He later joined the Utah bar and practiced law. He held other territorial offices and was appointed as an associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, serving between 1894 and 1896.
- Steven Levinson (JD) an associate justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court, Levinson served his first term from 1992 to 2002 and was retained by the Judicial Selection Commission to serve a second ten-year term. He retired from the court, effective December 31, 2008.
- Peter J. Maassen (JD) is a justice of the Alaska Supreme Court, who was appointed in 2012; appointed to position of Chief Justice in 2022 with a term commencing in 2023.
- John A. Matthews was a Justice of the Montana Supreme Court from 1919 to 1920, and again from 1925 to 1937.
- George W. Maxey (BA) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1930 to 1943 and Chief Justice from 1943 to 1950.
- Abner Vernon McCall (LLM) In 1943, he received an LL.M from the University of Michigan. He was appointed a Texas Supreme Court Justice in June 1956 by Governor Allan Shivers. He was also a past President of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
- David A. Nichols was a Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court from May 24, 1977, to May 31, 1988.
- Frank W. Parker (LLB) was an American judge who served on the New Mexico Supreme Court for 35 years, from its territorial period to after statehood. He earned a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Michigan Law School in 1880. Parker was appointed to serve on the Territorial Supreme Court on January 10, 1898, by President William McKinley, on the recommendation of territorial governor Miguel Antonio Otero. He was reappointed to the Territorial Supreme Court by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 and 1905, and by William Howard Taft in 1909. While serving as a territorial district court judge
- Vernon Robert Pearson Governor John Spellman appointed Pearson as an associate justice of the Washington Supreme Court. He served as an associate justice from 1982 to 1987, having been named Acting Chief Justice in 1985, and then chief justice from 1987 to 1989.
- Charles N. Potter (LLB) was a Justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court from January 7, 1895, to December 20, 1927.
- Albert L. Rendlen (MDNG) was judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri from 1977 until 1992, and the Chief Justice of that Court from January 1982 until June 1985.
- John Campbell Rice (January 27, 1864 – November 7, 1937) was an associate justice of the Idaho Supreme Court who served as chief justice of the court from 1922 to 1923.
- John E. Richards (LLB) was an American attorney who served as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court from 1924 until 1932.
- John Sherman Robinson (B.A. 1903) (December 17, 1880 – October 9, 1951) was an American track and field athlete, lawyer, judge, and Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court.
- Marvin B. Rosenberry (JD) was an American jurist from Wisconsin. He received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. In 1916, he was appointed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court and, in 1929, Rosenberry became chief justice of the supreme court serving until his retirement in 1950.
- John W. Shenk (LLB) was a city attorney in Los Angeles, California, a Superior Court judge and a member of the California Supreme Court.
- Joseph J. Simeone (SJD) was judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri from 1978 until 1979.
- William Redwood Smith was an associate justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from January 9, 1899, to July 1, 1905.
- Martha B. Sosman served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 2000 until her death.
- William Story (B.A.) was a United States federal judge and later the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Colorado, serving from 1891 to 1893 under John Long Routt. He was a judge of the Second Judicial Circuit Court of Arkansas from 1867 to 1871, sitting as a "special Chief Justice" on the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1869.
- John Charles Tarsney (LLB) was appointed by U.S. President Grover Cleveland to serve as associate justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma Territory in 1896 and served until 1899.
- Samuel R. Thurman (LLB) was a Justice of the Utah Supreme Court from 1917 to 1929, serving as Chief Justice from 1927 to 1929.
- Walter L. Tooze (JD) was an American attorney and politician in Oregon. He served as the 66th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court and as a state district court judge.
- Julius Travis served 4383 days preceded by Moses B. Lairy and succeeded by Michael L. Fansler
- Alfred Wallin (JD) was an American judge who served one of the first three Justices of the Supreme Court of North Dakota from 1889 to 1902.
- Martha Lee Walters (BA) is an American labor attorney and the 43rd Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court.
- J. Stanley Webster (LLB) was a congressman from Eastern Washington, a professor of law at Gonzaga University School of Law, a Washington State Supreme Court justice, and a federal judge
- N. D. Wernette sat on the Idaho Supreme Court from 1933 to 1935
Attorneys General
As of 2021, 40 Michigan alumni have served as a state's Attorney General
- Paul L. Adams, member of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1962 and 1964–1972; mayor of Sault Ste. Marie 1938–1942; Attorney General of Michigan in 1957; member of the Michigan Supreme Court in 1962
- Eugene F. Black (1903–1990), elected Michigan Attorney General as a Republican in 1945
- Charles A. Blair (1854–1912), member of the Michigan Supreme Court from 1905 until 1912; held several public offices including prosecuting attorney for Jackson County; elected Attorney General of Michigan in 1902
- Steven G. Bradbury, Acting Assistant Attorney General of the United States for the Office of Legal Counsel, 2005–2009
- Clarence Addison Brimmer, Jr., state attorney general of Wyoming 1971–1974
- Wilber Marion Brucker, assistant attorney general of Michigan, 1927–1928; Michigan Attorney General, 1928–1930
- Warren Booth Burrows, member of the Connecticut House of Representatives 1925–1927, member of Connecticut Senate 1927–1928; state attorney general of Connecticut 1931–1935
- Charles Burson, served almost a decade as Tennessee Attorney General; became Gore's chief of staff in 1999
- Pamela Carter, first black woman to serve as a state's attorney general
- Mike Cox, Michigan's 52nd attorney general
- Marc Dann, Attorney General of Ohio from 2007 until his resignation in 2008
- Harry M. Daugherty (LAW), Attorney General of the United States under Presidents Harding and Coolidge
- Ulysses G. Denman, Republican politician from Ohio; Ohio Attorney General 1908–1911
- John R. Dethmers, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party 1942–1945; delegate to the 1944 Republican National Convention; Michigan Attorney General 1945–1946
- Tyrone C. Fahner, lawyer; received his bachelor's degree from U-M; Illinois Attorney General 1980–1983
- Charles E. Gibson Jr., Vermont Attorney General[68]
- Horace Weldon Gilmore, member of the Michigan Board of Tax Appeals in 1954; deputy state attorney general of Michigan 1954–1956; judge on the 3rd Judicial Circuit of Detroit 1956–1980
- Alexander J. Groesbeck, attorney general; 30th Governor of Michigan
- Shiro Kashiwa, first attorney general of Hawaii to be appointed after it became a state in 1959
- Franz C. Kuhn, probate judge; Michigan Attorney General in 1910
- Cary D. Landis, 25th Florida Attorney General, (1931–1938)
- George A. Malcolm, acting attorney-general for the Philippines as of 1911
- Dwight May, Michigan Attorney General; served from 1869 to 1873 under Governor Henry P. Baldwin
- Frank Millard, Michigan Attorney General, 1951–1954
- William J. Morgan, Wisconsin Attorney General 1912–1923, Republican
- Dana Nessel, Michigan's 54th attorney general, is an American lawyer and politician from the state of Michigan. She is the first openly LGBTQ person elected to statewide office in Michigan.
- William W. Potter, Michigan Attorney General 1927–1928
- Charles Byron Renfrew, nominated by President Richard Nixon to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California; confirmed by the United States Senate on December 2, 1971, and received his commission on December 9; served until 1980, when he resigned to become United States Deputy Attorney General, serving in that post until 1981
- John W. Reynolds, Sr., Attorney General of Wisconsin 1927–1933; Republican
- Stephen John Roth, Attorney General of Michigan 1949–1950
- Kenneth Salazar; U.S. Senator; Attorney General of Colorado 1999–2005
- John M. Sheets, Republican politician; Ohio Attorney General 1900–1904
- Winfield Smith, Attorney General of Wisconsin 1862–1866; Republican
- Robert Stafford, deputy attorney general of Vermont 1953–1955; attorney general 1955–1957
- Raymond Wesley Starr, Attorney General of Michigan 1937–1938
- James M. Swift, lawyer; District Attorney of Massachusetts Southern District; Attorney General of Massachusetts
- Cyrus Nils Tavares, deputy attorney general of Hawaii 1927–1934 before returning to private practice in Honolulu, 1934–1941; during World War II he was the special deputy attorney general of Hawaii for war matters, 1941–1942; the assistant attorney general of Hawaii, 1942–1943; and the Attorney General of Hawaii, 1944–1947
- Larry Thompson, lawyer; deputy Attorney General of the US under President George W. Bush until 2003
- Paul W. Voorhies, Michigan lawyer; Wayne County Prosecutor; Michigan Attorney General
- Robert Wefald; 26th North Dakota Attorney General 1981–1984
Secretaries of the Cabinet
As of 2020, Michigan matriculants have served in 42 Cabinet positions.
- Clinton Presba Anderson (1915–1916), Congressional Representative; Senator from New Mexico; Secretary of Agriculture
- Edgardo Angara (LAW: LLM 1964), Secretary of Agriculture (emeritus) of the Philippines; former Executive Secretary
- Dr. José Celso Barbosa Alcala was a Puerto Rican physician, sociologist and political leader. Known as the father of the Statehood for Puerto Rico movement
- Rand Beers (MA 1970); had a public service career spanning 25 years; took over terrorism and narcotics desk at the National Security Council following Oliver North; appointed by President Clinton in 1998 to Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotic and Law Enforcement Affairs; assigned to counter-terrorism in the George W. Bush White House; foreign policy advisor to John Kerry campaign
- Grace Bochenek Bochenek served as the acting United States Secretary of Energy in early 2017.
- Steven G. Bradbury (JD) Acting United States Secretary of Transportation
- Bill Brehm (A.B., M.A.), assistant secretary of the army under Presidents Johnson and Nixon; assistant secretary of defense under Presidents Nixon and Ford; Chairman (emeritus) of SRA International
- Douglas A. Brook (B.A., M.A.), nominated in 2007 as Assistant Secretary of the Navy; Professor of Public Policy and Director of the Center for Defense Management Reform in the School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School; former Dean of the School of Business and Public Policy at the Naval Postgraduate School; former acting director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management)
- Wilber Marion Brucker (A.B. 1916), Secretary of the Army
- Philip W. Buchen (LAW) (February 27, 1916 – May 21, 2001) was an American attorney who served as White House Counsel during the Ford Administration. He served as chief White House Counsel with Cabinet rank for the duration of Ford's presidency.
- Ben Carson Benjamin Solomon "Ben" Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American neurosurgeon, author, and politician who was the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, under the Trump Administration.
- Roy D. Chapin, Sr. (MDNG), US Secretary of Commerce, 1932–33; Hudson Motors President and CEO (1934–36); US Secretary of Commerce (1932–33); Hudson Motors President and CEO (1909–23); Hudson Motors co-founder (1906–09); Member of the Board of Hudson Motors (as Chairman 1923–36)
- Terry Davis (BUS: MBA 1962), member of Britain's Parliament for 28 years; Secretary General of the Council of Europe; human rights activist
- William Rufus Day, United States Secretary of State during the Mckinley administration; negotiated the peace treaty ending the Spanish–American War; appointed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court by President Roosevelt
- Edwin C. Denby (LAW: JD 1896), Congressional Representative from Michigan; employed in the Chinese imperial maritime customs service 1887–1894; member of the State House of Representatives in 1903; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-ninth, Sixtieth, and Sixty-first Congresses (1905–1911); president of the Detroit Charter Commission in 1913 and 1914; president of the Detroit Board of Commerce in 1916 and 1917; appointed United States Secretary of the Navy by President Harding and served 1921–1924
- Robert F. Ellsworth (LAW: JD 1949), Congressional Representative from Kansas; assistant to vice chairman, Federal Maritime Board in 1953 and 1954; elected as a Republican to the Eighty-seventh and to the two succeeding Congresses (1961–1967); National Political Director of the Presidential Campaign in 1968; special assistant to President Nixon, 1969; Permanent Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with rank of Ambassador, 1969–1971; general partner in Lazard Freres and Co. of New York City; Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs), 1974–1975; nominated by President Ford to be Deputy Secretary of Defense and served in that capacity 1975–1977; vice chairman of the council, 1977–1990, chairman, 1990–1996, vice president, 1996 to present, International Institute for Strategic Studies, London, England; appointed to the U.S.-China Economic Security Review Commission, 2003–present
- Howard Flight (BUS: MBA), British MP; holds 11 directorships; appointed Shadow Paymaster General in 2001; in 2002 was promoted to Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
- Dan Glickman (BA History 1966), Congressional Representative from Kansas; United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 1969–1970; elected as a Democrat to the Ninety-fifth and to the eight succeeding Congresses (1977–1995); one of the managers appointed by the House of Representatives in 1986 to conduct the impeachment proceedings against Harry E. Claiborne, judge of the United States District Court for Nevada; chair, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (One Hundred Third Congress); chaired the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; launched an inquiry into the Aldrich Ames spy case; United States Secretary of Agriculture; president and CEO of the MPAA in 2004
- James William Good (LAW: JD 1893), Congressional Representative from Iowa; elected as a Republican to the Sixty-first and to the six succeeding Congresses and served 1909–1921; chairman, Committee on Appropriations (Sixty-sixth and Sixty-seventh Congresses); appointed Secretary of War in the Cabinet of President Hoover and served from 1929 until his death in 1929
- James F. Goodrich (B.S. 1937), Under Secretary of the Navy 1981–1987
- George M. Humphrey, United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Eisenhower administration
- Arthur M. Hyde (BA 1899), Governor of Missouri, 1921–25; US Secretary of Agriculture (1929–33)
- Broderick D. Johnson is a partner at Bryan Cave. Johnson was an Assistant to the President and the former White House Cabinet Secretary for President Barack Obama.
- Philip Lader (M.A.) served as a member of President Clinton's Cabinet as Administrator of the US Small Business Administration, Assistant to the President, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, and Deputy Director of the US Office of Management and Budget.
- Robert P. Lamont (BSCE 1891), US Commerce Secretary, 1929–32
- George de Rue Meiklejohn (LAW: JD 1880), Congressional Representative from Nebraska; member of the State senate 1884–1888 and served as its president 1886–1888; chairman of the Republican State convention of 1887; chairman of the Republican State central committee in 1887 and 1888; Lieutenant Governor of Nebraska 1889–1891; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses (1893–1897); appointed by President McKinley as Assistant Secretary of War in 1897 and served until his resignation in 1901
- Julius Sterling Morton (A.B. 1854), United States Secretary of Agriculture under President Cleveland; created Arbor Day
- David Norquist (B.A., MPP) United States Secretary of Defense Acting; 34th United States Deputy Secretary of Defense
- Tom Price (born October 8, 1954), American physician and Republican politician who was the 23rd United States Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration.
- Mark E. Rey (MA 1976), former timber lobbyist; undersecretary for natural resources and environment at the Agriculture Department; oversees the Forest Service
- Harvey S. Rosen (A.B. 1970), Chair of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers; deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis in the Department of the Treasury under President George H.W. Bush 1989–1991
- Kenneth Lee Salazar (LAW: JD 1981), Senator from Colorado; chief legal counsel, Governor Roy Romer of Colorado, 1986–1990; executive director, Colorado Department of Natural Resources 1990–1994; Colorado State attorney general 1999–2005; elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2004 for term beginning January 3, 2005; appointed Secretary of the Interior in 2009
- Kris Sarri (MPH), nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
- Rajiv Shah (B.S.E. (economics), 1995), former Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics and Chief Scientist at the United States Department of Agriculture; 16th Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development
- Edwin Forrest Sweet (LAW: JD 1874), Congressional Representative from Michigan; mayor of Grand Rapids 1904–1906; elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second Congress (1911–1913); Assistant Secretary of Commerce 1913–1921
- Henry Tang (A.B. 1976), Financial Secretary of Hong Kong, August 4, 2003–present
- John F. Turner (MA), reelected in 2007 to board of directors of Peabody Energy; former Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs within the State Department; former president and chief executive officer of the Conservation Fund; Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1989–1993; served 19 years in the Wyoming State Legislature; former president of the Wyoming State Senate; director of International Paper and Ashland, Inc.
- Edwin Uhl (MA 1863), United States Secretary of State and Ambassador to Germany during the Cleveland Administration
- Edwin Willits (AB 1955), Congressional Representative from Michigan; member of the State board of education 1860–1872; appointed postmaster of Monroe in 1863 by President Lincoln, and removed by President Johnson in 1866; member of the commission to revise the constitution of the State in 1873; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, and Forty-seventh Congresses (1877–1883); president of the Michigan Agricultural College 1885–1889; First Assistant Secretary of Agriculture 1889–1893
- Donald C. Winter (Ph.D. Physics 1972), President of Northrop Grumman's Mission Systems sector; former president and CEO of TRW Systems; elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2002; appointed United States Secretary of the Navy in 2006
- Hubert Work (MED: 1882–1884), US Interior Secretary, 1923–28
State senators
As of 2021, Michigan's matriculants include 53 state senators.
- Kazuhisa Abe (LAW) (January 18, 1914 – May 18, 1996)[1] was a Democratic state senator and Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawaii.
- Elroy M. Avery (LAW: Ph.D. LL.D.) (July 14, 1844 – December 1, 1935) was school principal, politician, author, and historian. Avery was an Ohio State Senator in the 1890s
- Richard J. Barr (LAW) Barr served in the Illinois State Senate
- Albert Berkowitz (AB) Berkowitz was elected on February 14, 1957, to the New York State Senate (37th D.), to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Henry Neddo.[1] He was re-elected three times, and remained in the State Senate until 1964, sitting in the 171st, 172nd, 173rd and 174th New York State Legislatures.
- Kenneth F. Berry He served the 19th District of the Ohio Senate in 1972
- Theodore G. Bilbo (LAW) Member of the Mississippi Senate from the 4th district
- Mike Bishop (politician) served in the Michigan State Senate from 2003 to 2010 where he served as majority leader
- Kate Bolz (born March 1, 1979) is an American politician and social worker who served as a member of the Nebraska Legislature, representing the 29th district from 2013 to 2021 as a state senator.
- John E. Braun (MBA) (born January 16, 1967) is an American businessman, veteran, and politician from Washington. A Republican, Braun serves in the Washington State Senate, representing the 20th district.
- Bill Bullard Jr. (BA) Member of the Michigan Senate from the 15th district and the 25th district
- Martha Hughes Cannon (MED) (July 1, 1857 – July 10, 1932) was a Utah State Senator, physician, Utah women's rights advocate, suffragist, polygamous wife, and a Welsh-born immigrant to the United States.
- Charles B. Carter (LAW) He was a lawyer in Maine and also served in the Maine Senate.
- George D. Chafee (LAW) Chafee served in the Illinois House of Representatives in 1881 and 1882 and was a Republican. He also served in the Illinois Senate from 1905 to 1909.
- Stephanie Chang (BA, MA, MSW, MPP) is a Democratic politician from Michigan representing the 1st district of the Michigan Senate who served as a State Senator
- Patrick Colbeck (BS, MS) is an aerospace engineer, author, former elected official, and former candidate for governor in Michigan. He was born October 7, 1965, in Dearborn, Michigan. He is a former Republican member of the Michigan Senate,
- J. Mac Davis (LAW) Davis was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1982, as a Republican, and was re-elected in 1986.
- William H. J. Ely (LAW) He was elected to the New Jersey Senate in 1931, defeating Harry Harper,[5] becoming the first Democrat from Bergen County to serve in the Senate in sixteen years
- Tom George (BA, MD) (born December 2, 1956) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. As a member[1] of the Michigan State Senate, he represented Kalamazoo County as well as an eastern portion of Van Buren County.
- Paul Gillmor (LAW) (born December 2, 1956) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Michigan. As a member[1] of the Michigan State Senate, he represented Kalamazoo County as well as an eastern portion of Van Buren County.
- Bradley M. Glass (LAW) (January 17, 1931 – August 6, 2015) was an American politician in the state of Illinois. He served in the Illinois Senate from 1973 to 1979, and in the Illinois House of Representatives in 1971.
- Randy Gordon (BA) (born June 29, 1953) was a Democratic Washington State Senator from Bellevue, Washington.
- William G. Hare (LAW) In 1920, he was elected to a four-year term in the Oregon State Senate representing District 11. Hare won re-election in 1924 to a second four-year term and remained in office through the 1927 session.
- Tom Hayden Member of the California Senate from the 23rd district
- Arthur L. Haywood III (LAW) is an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senator for the 4th district.
- Kirby Hendee (LAW) Hendee served in the Wisconsin State Senate in 1957 and was a Republican.
- Adam Hollier (MUP) is an American politician serving as a member of the Michigan Senate from the 2nd district.
- Hoon-Yung Hopgood (BA) Member of the Michigan Senate from the 6th district 8th district (2011-2014)
- Gideon S. Ives (LAW) (January 19, 1846 – December 20, 1927) was an American politician who served as Mayor of St. Peter, Minnesota, as Minnesota State Senator and as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota.
- Tom Johnson (Illinois politician) (BA) (April 30, 1945 – December 3, 2018) was a Republican Illinois State Senator
- Marcia A. Karrow (MA) (born March 10, 1959) is an American Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey State Senate where she represented the 23rd Legislative District
- Roger A. Keats (BA) Keats served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1976 to 1979 and was a Republican. He then served in the Illinois Senate from 1979 to 1993.
- John F. Kelly (Michigan politician) (BA) Kelly was elected to the Michigan State Senate in 1978 from Detroit and served four consecutive four-year terms.
- Dale Kildee, (MA) he served as a member of the Michigan State Senate from 1975 to 1976.
- Antoinette Kinney (BA) was an American politician and community leader who served in the Utah State Senate.
- Elbert L. Lampson(LAW) Mr. Lampson served as permanent chairman of the Republican State Convention at Dayton in 1888. In 1891 he was elected to the State Senate to represent the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-sixth districts.
- Burton Leland(MSW) Member of the Michigan Senate from the 5th district
- Andrew Caldwell Mailer (BA) (April 4, 1853 – December 3, 1909) was an American politician. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate
- Lance Mason(LAW: JD) Member of the Ohio Senate from
- Oscar W. McConkie (May 9, 1887 – April 9, 1966) was a Utah State Senator
- Carrie Meek (MS) In 1982, Meek ran for a newly drawn state senate seat based in northern Dade County and became the first African American woman elected to the Florida Senate.
- Lyman Decatur Norris (MDNG) Norris (May 4, 1823 to January 6, 1894) was a lawyer, member of the Michigan Constitutional Convention of 1867, and a State Senator from Washtenaw County, Michigan from 1869 to 1871.
- Tom Price (American politician) (BA, MD) Member of the Georgia Senate from the 56th district
- June Robinson (MPH) (born June 27, 1959) is an American Democratic Party politician. She is a member of the Washington State Senate, representing the 38th Legislative District.
- Frank P. Sadler(LAW) Sadler served in the Illinois State Senate from 1919 to 1923
- William Sesler(LAW) (April 18, 1928 – May 22, 2017) was a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, serving from 1961 to 1972.
- Ken Sikkema(MBA) was the 12th Majority Leader of the Michigan Senate
- Fred J. Slater (LAW) He was a member of the New York State Senate (46th D.) from 1929 to 1934, sitting in the 152nd, 153rd, 154th, 155th, 156th and 157th New York State Legislatures.
- Alma Wheeler Smith (BA) Member of the Michigan Senate from the 18th district
- Gloria Tanner (born July 16, 1935)[1] is a former United States politician and public figure. In 1994 she became the first African American woman to serve as a Colorado state senator.
- Laura M. Toy (BGS) On November 5, 2002, Toy was elected to the Michigan Senate where she represented the 6th district from January 8, 2003, to December 31, 2006.
- James Franklin Ware (LAW) (1849–1934) was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and the Wisconsin State Senate.
- Hank Wilkins(BA) Member of the Arkansas Senate from the 5th district
- Merrick Wing (LAW)) (September 10, 1833 – April 11, 1895) was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate.
- Gerald Van Woerkom (MA) Member of the Michigan Senate from the 34th district
As of 2020, Michigan matriculants include 47 United States Senators, 33 of whom graduated from the University of Michigan Law School.