Martin J. Gillen (1872-1943) was an American lawyer and economist. Born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin, he would go on to acquire roughly 7,500 acres of land spanning parts of Wisconsin and Michigan and containing over two dozen lakes along with extensive wooded areas. This property would come to be known as “Land O’Lakes.” Gillen was interested in nature and biology, and he welcomed scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and elsewhere to conduct scientific research on the property.


Gillen maintained a wide social circle, including former University of Notre Dame presidents James A. Burns and John F. O’Hara. In 1936, Gillen formalized an agreement to donate the entire Land O’Lakes property to the University of Notre Dame to be made available as a scientific preserve for use by scientists of this and other universities. To this end, the Martin J. Gillen Foundation was established, and management of the property was overseen by the Office of the Vice President of Business Affairs at the university.


In 1957, then-University of Notre Dame president Theodore Hesburgh was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to the Civil Rights Commission. While conducting a series of hearings that found African Americans were being denied their right to vote, a federal judge deemed the Commission unconstitutional and an upcoming hearing in Louisiana was canceled. This decision was eventually overturned, but Father Hesburgh suggested moving the Commission to the Land O’Lakes property instead. During their time at Land O’Lakes, members of the Commission crafted and voted upon the 12 recommendations presented to Congress that formed the foundation of the 1964 Omnibus Civil Rights Act.


In 1967, Father Hesbergh once again utilized the Land O'Lakes property as an important convening space. Led by Father Hesburgh, a group of educators met at Land O’Lakes to discuss "What is the nature and role of the contemporary Catholic University?". The result was a manifesto entitled "The Idea of the Catholic University", which is frequently referred to as "The Land O’Lakes Statement".


Today, the property is managed by an on-site research center, the University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC), which coordinates all research activities. The property continues to operate as an active scientific preserve and research hub, in accordance with Martin Gillen’s future vision for the property when he donated it to the university.


Sources referenced:
Collection materials.
"University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center: History.” Accessed February 2026.