Lauren Rousseau is an emeritus professor of law at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School. She retired from her full-time faculty position at WMU Cooley in December 2022 after nearly 20 years of law school teaching. From 2010 to 2012, Lauren was the legal guardian of a young man who became addicted to heroin, and who lost his life after multiple attempts at treatment. Lauren's experience with this young
man started her on a path of service to families struggling with addiction. She has organized and presented at multiple symposia and conferences focused on substance use disorder and the opioid epidemic, and co-presented a webinar for the State Bar of Michigan on this subject. She is one of the founders of Unite to Face Addiction--Michigan, which organizes annual statewide rallies and other events to bring awareness to and eliminate the stigma associated with addiction. Prior to her work with FAN, Lauren served on the boards of directors of Home of New Vision (an addiction treatment agency in Ann Arbor) and the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities (an umbrella organization working with multiple substance use prevention coalitions in Oakland County). In September 2016, Lauren was honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly as one of its "Class of 2016 Women in the Law," in recognition of her work in the substance use disorder field. Prior to joining WMU Cooley, Lauren served as vice president, general counsel of a local automotive supplier; a senior litigation attorney at Ford Motor Company; and an associate attorney at the law firm Dykema Gossett.