Go Blue

When the Michigan Wolverines take on the Louisville Cardinals tonight the cheering section will include many past and present justices of the Michigan Supreme Court.

First territorial justice Augustus Woodward is well-known for the instrumental role he played in designing the city of Detroit (his name is synonymous with the area’s “Main Street”); however, perhaps less well known was his role in the creation of the University of Michigan. If he had had his way, the school would have been known as Catholepistemiad or “system of universal science”. Read more here.

Alpheus Felch, who served on both the Michigan Supreme Court and as Governor of Michigan, was a Tappan Professor of Law at UM and also served on the Board of Regents toward the end of his life in the late nineteenth century. The Society is currently inquiring into the whereabouts of his portrait, which exists but was never found.

Big Four Justices James V. Campbell and Thomas M. Cooley were the first and second deans of the law department, respectively. Campbell was a Marshall Professor and Cooley was a Jay Professor.

Most recently, Justice Bridget Mary McCormack served as a dean in the University of Michigan Law School before being elected to the Court in 2012.

All of which is to say, Go Blue!