List of University of Michigan Law and Government Alumni - Governors

Governors

• George Ariyoshi (J.D. 1952), third governor of Hawaii (1974–1986)
• William John Bulow, (LAW: JD 1893) a Senator from South Dakota; member, State senate 1899; mayor of Beresford 1912-1913; county judge of Union County, S.Dak., 1918; Governor of South Dakota 1927-1931; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1930; reelected in 1936 and served from March 4, 1931, to January 3, 1943; chairman, Committee on the Civil Service (Seventy-third through Seventy-seventh Congresses);
• Wilber Marion Brucker (A.B. 1916) he served as the 32nd Governor of Michigan from 1931 to 1933 and as the United States Secretary of the Army between July 21, 1955 and January 19, 1961.
• 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).
• John Cherry (MPA 1984), Lt. Governor of the state of Michigan, and former state senator
• Fenimore Chatterton governor of Wyoming (1903 - 1905) Republican
• Chase Addison Clark governor of Idaho (1941 - 1943) Democrat
• William Comstock (A.B. 1899) American politician as the 33rd Governor of the U.S. state of Michigan.
• Thomas Cuming (A.B. 1845) (December 25, 1827 – March 12, 1858) was an American military officer and politician. He served as the first Secretary of Nebraska Territory and served twice as the territory's Acting Governor, the first time following the death of Francis Burt and the second following the resignation of Mark W. Izard.
• Frank Emerson (B.S. 1904), governor of Wyoming (1927–1931)
• 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); unsuccessful ran as the Republican nominee for President in 1944 and 1948
• Woodbridge Nathan 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 March 4, 1923, until his death in 1928.
• Ralph F. Gates (BA 1915; LAW: JD 1917) Governor of Indiana, 1945–49;
• Fred Warren Green (LAW: 1898) was mayor of Ionia, Michigan before he served as the 31st Governor of Michigan from 1927 to 1931.
• Martha Wright Griffiths, (LAW: JD 1940) a Congressional Representative from Michigan; elected to the Michigan state house of representatives, 1948–1952; elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-fourth and to the nine succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1955-December 31, 1974); lieutenant Governor of Michigan, 1982–1991;
• Morley Isaac Griswold governor of Nevada (1934 - 1935) Republican
• Alex Goresbeck (LAW: LLB 1893), 30th Governor of Michigan
• Francis Grant "Frank" Higgins was the first native-born person from Montana to become a member of the state's bar and of the state's legislature. He served in the Montana House of Representatives and was elected as the mayor of Missoula, Montana in 1892. He was the fourth Lieutenant Governor of Montana from 1901 to 1905.
• Lyman Underwood Humphrey governor of Kansas (1889 - 1893) Republican
• Arthur Mastick Hyde governor of Missouri (1921 - 1925) Republican
• Patrick Henry Kelley, (LAW: JD 1900) a 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 (March 4, 1913-March 3, 1923);
• Washington Ellsworth Lindsey governor of New Mexico (1917 - 1919) Republican
• Oren Ethelbirt Long, (AB 1916) a 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) a Congressional Representative from Oklahoma; elected as a Democrat to the Seventy-third Congress (March 4, 1933-January 31, 1935); elected Governor of Oklahoma in 1934 for the four-year term commencing January 14, 1935;
• George de Rue Meiklejohn, (LAW: JD 1880) a 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 (March 4, 1893-March 3, 1897); appointed by President McKinley as Assistant Secretary of War April 14, 1897, and served until March 1901, when he resigned;
• William Francis (Frank) Murphy (April 13, 1890 – July 19, 1949) was a politician, the 35th governor of Michigan and a jurist from Michigan.
• Walter Marcus Pierce, (MDNG?) a Congressional Representative from Oregon; attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor; 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 (March 4, 1933-January 3, 1943);
• Culbert L. Olson, Governor of California (1939-1943)
• Ridgely Ceylon Powers governor of Mississippi (1871 - 1874)
• Donald Stuart Russell governor of South Carolina (1963 - 1965) Democrat
• John Franklin Shafroth, governor of Colorado (1909-1913)
• Kimber Cornellus Sigler, commonly known as Kim Sigler, (May 2, 1894 – November 30, 1953) was an American politician. He served as the 40th Governor of Michigan from 1947 to 1949.
• Rick Snyder, (LSA, LAW, BUS) 48th and Current Governor of Michigan. Former President, and COO Gateway Computers.
• Robert Theodore Stafford, (AB: ) a 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;
• Charles Spalding Thomas, (LAW: JD 1871) a 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 from January 15, 1913, to March 3, 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);
• Murray Delos Van Wagoner (COE: BA CE 1921) (March 18, 1898 – June 12, 1986) was an American politician. He served as the 38th Governor of Michigan from 1941 to 1942.
• G. Mennen "Soapy" Williams (LAW: JD) - Six-term Democratic Governor of Michigan (1948–1960) and later Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice.
• Edwin B. Winans (LAW) (May 16, 1826 – July 4, 1894) was a U.S. Representative from and the 22nd Governor of the US state of Michigan.
• Harriett Woods (AB 1949), Missouri's first female lieutenant governor. Woods, a Democrat, became Missouri’s lieutenant governor in 1984 and served one term as the state’s No. 2 executive. Before that, she served eight years in the state Senate, two years on a state transportation commission and eight years on the University City Council. At Michigan, she was the first female editor of the college newspaper.
• Richard Yates governor of Illinois (1901 - 1905) Republican