John Ripley Freeman (July 27, 1855 – October 6, 1932) was an American civil and hydraulic engineer.

In those days he became acquainted with other leading engineers such as Charles Storer Storrow, James B. Francis, Joseph R. Davis and John C. Hoadley.

In the late 1920s Freeman established fellowships to send promising students and professors to cutting edge hydraulic labs with a focus on exposing them to practices he believed would be useful in solving river problems.

[2] One of these professors was Blake R. Van Leer who invented the California pipe method for measuring water while working for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company.

Freeman is noted for his work designing and building the Charles River Dam in Boston, advising the US government on dam and lock foundations for the Panama Canal, and influencing the design of MIT's new campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.