Theodore McMillian (January 28, 1919 – January 18, 2006) was the first African American to serve on the Missouri Court of Appeals, and the first African American to serve as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

He was appointed by Governor Warren E. Hearnes as a judge of the Eastern Division of the Missouri Court of Appeals from 1972 to 1978, being retained in 1974.

He was a faculty member of the National College of Juvenile Justice at the University of Nevada, Reno from 1972 to 1977.

[citation needed] He served as a board member of the American Judicature Society, Blue Cross Hospital Association and Urban League.

[citation needed] McMillian was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on August 3, 1978, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit vacated by Judge William H. Webster.