List of University of Michigan law and government alumni

:''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:

Legislators

*Estefania Aldaba-Lim (Ph.D.), first female Filipino Cabinet secretary; social services and development secretary 1971–1977; first Filipino clinical psychologist; President of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines; first woman to become special ambassador to the United Nations (1979); UN Peace Medal Award
*Justin Amash (B.A. 2002, J.D. 2005), lawyer, politician; U.S. Representative from Michigan's 3rd congressional district; libertarian-oriented maverick
*Donald M. Baker (B.A., M.A. economics 1952, J.D. 1956), major force in federal legislation on labor, education and poverty of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; chief counsel for the Office of Economic Opportunity under Sargent Shriver during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration; oversaw such landmark legislation as the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, key additions to the Civil Rights Act, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and many school busing, family planning, jobs and anti-poverty programs
*Andrea Barthwell (M.D. 1980), Deputy Director for Demand Reduction at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Drug Czar); resigned in July 2004 with an interest in running for United States Senate from Illinois
* Alvin Morell Bentley (B.A. 1940, M.A. 1963), U.S. Representative from Michigan's 8th congressional district (1953–1961); wounded in the 1954 Capitol shooting incident; member of the Foreign Service
* William J. "Bill" Bogaard (J.D. 1965), mayor of Pasadena, California (1984–1986; 1999–present); longest-serving mayor in city history
*Howard L. Bost (Ph.D. 1955), historic architect of Medicare and job-related benefits for workers; U-M awarded him the nation's first doctorate in medical economics
* Lyman James Briggs (M.A. in Physics, 1895), civil servant for the U.S. Government for 49 years; headed the Briggs Advisory Committee on Uranium; namesake of Lyman Briggs College at U-M
*Arleigh Burke ( MSE 1931), United States Navy admiral; World War II naval hero; served an unprecedented three terms as Chief of Naval Operations (1955–1961)
*Anson Burlingame (1838–1841), Congressional Representative from Massachusetts; attended Detroit branch of the University of Michigan; served in the State senate in 1852; elected as a candidate of the American Party to the Thirty-fourth Congress and as a Republican to the Thirty-fifth and Thirty-sixth Congresses (March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1861); appointed Minister to Austria March 22, 1861, but was not accepted by the Austrian Government because of certain opinions he was known to entertain regarding Hungary and Sardinia; Minister to China from June 14, 1861, to November 21, 1867; appointed December 1, 1867, by the Chinese Government its ambassador to negotiate treaties with foreign powers
* Charles W. Burson (B.A. in political science, 1966), Senior Professor of Practice at the Washington University School of Law; Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at Monsanto Company (2001–2006); Tennessee Attorney General (1988–1997); chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore (1997–2001)
*Harry M. Daugherty (LL.B. 1881), United States Attorney General; famously campaign manager and close advisor to Warren G. Harding
* Donald McDonald Dickinson (J.D. 1867), United States Postmaster General under Grover Cleveland
*Gerrit John Diekema (LAW: JD 1883), Congressional Representative from Michigan; member of the State house of representatives 1885–1891, serving as speaker in 1889; mayor of Holland in 1895; chairman of the Michigan Republican State central committee 1900–1910; delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1896; member of the Spanish Treaty Claims Commission from 1901 until he resigned in 1907; chairman of the Republican State central committee in 1927; appointed United States Minister to the Netherlands by President Hoover on August 20, 1929, and served until his death in The Hague, Netherlands, December 20, 1930;
*Gerald R. Ford (B.A. 1935, HLLD 1974), 38th President of the United States (1974–1977); 40th Vice President of the United States (1973–1974); Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives (1965–1973); U.S. Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district (1949–1973)
*Harold Ford Jr. (J.D. 1996), U.S. Representative from the Memphis-based Tennessee's 9th congressional district (1997–2007)
* Richard A. "Dick" Gephardt (J.D. 1965), President and CEO of the Gephardt Group lobbying firm; House Minority Leader (1995–2003); House Majority Leader (1989–1995); U.S. Representative from Missouri's 3rd congressional district (1977–2005); St. Louis city alderman (1971–1976); unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president in 1988 and 2004
*Stephen Goldsmith (J.D.), Professor of Practice at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; chair of the Corporation for National and Community Service; Deputy Mayor of New York City (2010–11); mayor of Indianapolis (1992–1999); district attorney for Marion County, Indiana (1979–1990)
* Henry Thomas Hazard (LLD 1868), Mayor of Los Angeles (1889–1892)
* Alexander W. Joel (J.D. 1987), Civil Liberties Protection Officer for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence
*Philip Lader (M.A. History 1967), United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1997–2001); Administrator of the Small Business Administration (1994–1997); House Deputy Chief of Staff and Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (1993–1994)
*Robert Meeropol (1969, M.A. 1970), attorney; founder and executive director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children (1990–present); son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
*William L. Mitchell (J.D.), former Kansas state legislator;speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives 1960–1962; served in the Kansas House 1957–1962; chairman of the Kansas Corporation Commission 1963–1968
*Julius Sterling Morton (A.B. 1854), United States Secretary of Agriculture under President Cleveland; created Arbor Day
* Edward Charles Pierce (BA 1955; MED: MD 1959), politician and physician; elected to the Michigan State Senate from the state's eighteenth district in 1978, and held the seat through 1982
* Lloyd Welch Pogue (LAW: JD 1926), "the nation's leading authority on civil aviation"; named assistant general counsel of the Civil Aeronautics Authority in 1938, then its general counsel and chief lawyer; in 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt named Welch to the Civil Aeronautics Board (now the FAA) and reappointed him chairman for four successive years.
* 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
*Joe Schwarz (B.A. History 1959), Republican U.S. Congressman, MI-7th (2005–2007); Michigan State Senator (1987–2002)
*George Sutherland (LAW: 1883), Associate Justice of the Supreme Court
*Lauren Underwood (BS, Nursing 2008), Democratic U.S. Congresswoman, IL-14 (Naperville/Chicago suburbs)
*Fred Upton (BA 1975), Republican U.S. Congressman, MI-6th (southwest Michigan)
* Kapila Vatsyayan (MA), scholar of Indian classical dance; member of the Rajya Sabha (2006, 2007–present). The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India.
*James Franklin Ware (LAW: 1873), Wisconsin State Assemblyman and Senator

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
* John Cherry (MPA 1984), Lt. Governor of Michigan; former state senator
*William Comstock (A.B. 1899), 33rd Governor of Michigan
* 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
*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
*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
*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
* 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)
*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
*Rick Snyder (LSA, LAW, BUS), 48th Governor of Michigan; former president and COO of Gateway Computers
* Murray Delos Van Wagoner (COE: BA CE 1921), 38th Governor of Michigan 1941–1942
* G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams (LAW: JD), six-term Democratic Governor of Michigan (1948–1960); Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice
* 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)
* M. Cameron Ayres, Department of State; Corporate Intel, Specialized Placement Head, GCU: Global Corporation Unit Director, (2001-2021)
* 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)
* 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)
* Fenimore Chatterton, Republican, governor of Wyoming (1903–1905)
* Chase Addison Clark, Democrat, governor of Idaho (1941–1943)
* 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)
*Thomas E. Dewey (B.A. 1923), governor of New York (1943–1954); unsuccessfully ran as Republican nominee for president in 1944 and 1948
*Frank Emerson (B.S. 1904), governor of Wyoming (1927–1931)
*Ralph F. Gates (BA 1915; LAW: JD 1917), Governor of Indiana, 1945–49
*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
* 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)
* Arthur Mastick Hyde, Republican, governor of Missouri (1921–1925)
* 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)
* 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
* 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
*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
*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)
*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)
* Ridgley C. Powers, governor of Mississippi (1871–1874)
* Donald Stuart Russell, Democrat, governor of South Carolina (1963–1965)
* John Franklin Shafroth, governor of Colorado (1909–1913)
*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;
* 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);
*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)

Local government

*Saul Anuzis, Republican Party leader from Michigan; national chairman for the Save American Jobs Project on the American Solutions team; chairman of the Michigan Republican Party 2005–2009; candidate for national chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2009
* Henry Bodenstab, Wisconsin State Senator (1909–1912)
* Carol A. Buettner, Wisconsin State Senator (1987–1991)
* Rufus Davis, Mayor of Camilla, Georgia (2016–)
*Mike Duggan, incumbent mayor of Detroit, Michigan (2013–)
* Craig Greenberg (born 1973), businessman, lawyer, and politician; Mayor-elect of Louisville
*Richard J Kaplan, incumbent Mayor of Lauderhill, Florida (1998–)
* Wade Kapszukiewicz, 58th mayor of Toledo, Ohio (2018- )
* John McMullen, Wisconsin State Senator (1895–1898)
* H.H.C. Miller (A.B. 1868, A.M. 1871), mayor of Evanston (1883–1891)
* Robert E. Minahan, Mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin (1904–1907)
* John M. Potter, Wisconsin State Senator (1960–1964)
* Laura Spurr, Chairwoman of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi (2000–2001, 2003–2010)
* Dwight Tillery, mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio (1991–1993)
*Nathan Triplett, Mayor of East Lansing, Michigan (2013-2016)

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 L. 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
*Jae-ho Chung (Ph.D.), a professor of international relations and director of the Institute for Chinese Studies at Seoul National University, was nominated by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol as the new ambassador to China in June 2022.
* 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.
* John R. Dawson (B.A. 1973), United States Ambassador to Peru 2002–03
* 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.
*Peter A. Prahar (B.A.), former Air Force translator; ambassador to the FSM
* 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
* Gary Waissi (COE: Ph.D.), dean of ASU's School of Global Management and Leadership at the West campus; Knight, First Class, of the Order of the Lion of Finland in 2006
* 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.

Federal Reserve, FDIC, OCC, and Treasury

* William Duscharme "Pink Cheeks" Cochran, director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis 1936–1950, including five years as Deputy Chairman, 1946–1950
* John C. Dugan (A.B. 1977), 29th Comptroller of the Currency as of 2005
*Naomi Feldman, Israel's cabinet, on October 5 of 2021, approved her appointment to the Bank of Israel's monetary policy committee, the central bank said.
*Howard Flight; in 2002 was promoted to Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
* G. Edward Griffin (BA, 1953), author of'' The Creature from Jekyll Island'' (1994), which promotes conspiracy theories about the Federal Reserve System; also writes about the health care system
* William C. Handorf (BUS: MBA 1967), member, board of directors, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
* George M. Humphrey (BA, JD), United States Secretary of the Treasury during the Eisenhower administration
*Donald Kohn (Ph.D. 1971), joined the Federal Reserve System in 1970; member of Board of Governors since 2002, Vice-chairman 2006–2010
*Robb LaKritz (B.A. 1994), Special Assistant and Advisor to the Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary, appointed by President George W. Bush
* Timothy D. Leulitte (BUS: MBA 1976), chairman of the board, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
*Rob Portman (LAW: JD 1984), former United States Trade Representative, a post carrying the rank of Ambassador; nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the US Senate in 2006, as the Director of the United States Office of Management and Budget; Senator elect from Ohio in 2010
* Martha Seger (BUS: BBA 1954, MBA 1955, Ph.D. 1971), former governor of the Federal Reserve Bank
* L. William Seidman (BUS: MBA 1949, former head of the FDIC; vice chairman and CFO of the Phelps Dodge Corporation (1977–1982); managing partner of Seidman & Seidman, certified public accountants (1968–1974)
* Daniel Tarullo (LAW: JD 1977), member of the Board of Governors, U.S. Federal Reserve Board; appointed by President Obama in 2009; former Assistant to President Clinton for International Economic Policy and Deputy Assistant for Economic Policy
* Nancy Teeters (July 29, 1930 – November 17, 2014) was the first woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter, she served from 1978 to 1984.

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
*Prudence Carter Beatty, US Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York
* George G. Bingham (LLB 1880), judge in Oregon, dean of Willamette University College of LawColmer, Montagu, and Charles Erskine Scott Wood. (1910). ''History of the Bench and Bar of Oregon''. Portland, Or: Historical Pub. Co. p. 91.
*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
* Cristobal C. Duenas (LAW: JD 1952), judge of the U.S. District Court of Guam; judge of the Island Court of Guam; previously director of the Department of Land Management
* 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
* Larry D. Tompson (LAW: 1974), Deputy United States Attorney General
* 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) 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) 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) 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: ɛˈrɛnɔ 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. 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 Samuel McDonald (LAW: 1891; On Court: 1922–1933)
* 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
*Edward MacGlen Sharpe (LAW: 1914; On Court: 1934–1957)
* 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