Ralph McKenzie Freeman (May 5, 1902, Flushing, Michigan - March 29, 1990, Royal Oak, Michigan) was a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Judge Freeman was nominated by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower on May 10, 1954, to a newly-created seat and was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 8, 1954. He received his commission on June 10, 1954. Freeman served as chief judge from 1967 to 1972 and assumed senior status on July 1, 1973. He served in that capacity and continued to carry a full caseload until his death at the age of 87.
Judge Freeman was educated at the University of Michigan where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and earned his LL.B. degree in 1926 from the University of Michigan Law School.
Freeman was a prosecuting attorney in Genesee County, Michigan from 1928 to 1932 and was in private practice in Flint, Michigan prior to his appointment to the federal bench in 1954.
Freeman served on the Flint Board of Education from 1935-1949 and was its president for four years. The Ralph M. Freeman Elementary School in Flint was named in his honor.
He was married to Emmalyn Ellis in 1938 and the Freemans had no children. Judge and Mrs. Freeman established a number of scholarship funds at various Michigan schools and a law library for federal judges is named in Ralph Freeman's memory.