Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel - University Center for the Humanities "Courage" Speaker Series

The University Center for the Humanities welcomes Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel to Western Michigan University as the first speaker in our 2021-22 "Courage" speaker series.  This year’s series is inspired by the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, and brings to campus six speakers whose scholarship, writing and/or activism sheds light on the diverse experiences of American women now, and in the past. 

A former criminal prosecutor and civil rights attorney, Dana Nessel was sworn in as Michigan’s 54th Attorney General on January 1, 2019. Since taking office, Attorney General Nessel has been a champion of the state’s most important resource – its Great Lakes. Her environmental protection division is actively fighting to ensure clean air, water and energy for Michigan’s residents so that our most valuable assets are preserved for generations to come. She has also joined the battle to combat the largest public health crisis in the nation — a prescription drug addiction — and to stem the tide of Michigan’s biggest environmental crisis in decades – PFAS contamination.

As the State’s Chief Law Enforcement Officer, Attorney General Nessel launched Michigan’s Elder Abuse Task Force, in partnership with the Michigan Supreme Court, to stop the rise of crimes against one of the state’s most vulnerable populations. She has continued the Department’s criminal investigations into the Flint Water Crisis and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. And, she has created a Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate claims of innocence so that even when we prosecute the state’s most heinous crimes, we can ensure the public’s trust in our criminal justice system.

 A graduate of the University of Michigan and Wayne State University Law School, Attorney General Nessel lives in southeast Michigan with her wife, Alanna Maguire, and her twin sons, Alex and Zach.

wmich.edu/humanities  for more information