Refreshingly Relatable

In the spring of his senior year at the University of Notre Dame, Art was facing an uncertain future after graduation. He wanted to enter law school but had not been accepted. The journey from that uncertain time to law school and a successful legal/business career is an interesting one, filled with successes and failures to which college students easily relate. As Art says to the students, “I once was you!”

Art’s 35+ year personal and professional journey has yielded scores of observations about the working world and why people succeed and fail. He has witnessed mistakes that ruined reputations, and habits that have taken people to the top. Art’s passion is to share that knowledge with students embarking on their business journeys. His program resonates with them because they know that he knows where they have been and where they hope to go.

Art Gilloon is a senior law partner at Gilloon, Wright & Hamel, P.C. in Dubuque, Iowa. He is a 1975 honors graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a 1978 graduate of the University of Iowa College of Law. He is licensed to practice law in Iowa state and federal court, Wisconsin state court, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. His practice includes business and employment law.

Art was the first chairman of the Dubuque County Mental Health/Mental Retardation/Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board and served several years as treasurer of the Dubuque Visiting Nurse Association Foundation Board. He is a past board member and president of Area Residential Care, Inc., which provides residential and vocational opportunities to developmentally disabled citizens. He served as a member of The Finley Hospital Ethics Committee for 10 years. He assists Birthright of Dubuque, Inc., and Clarity Clinic clients who are experiencing crisis pregnancies with free legal services. He is a board member of Dubuque County Right to Life, Inc. and has served as its president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary.

Art taught grade school and high school religious education classes for 17 years and also coached YWCA girls’ basketball for seven years. He sings as a cantor at St. Joseph the Worker Church.

He has been married 36 years and is blessed with a strong and supportive wife, three wonderful children, a great daughter-in-law, and two beautiful granddaughters.

But he's never forgotten what it's like to be starting the journey.