Walter Arnheim

In addition to Arnheim's passion for opera, which is focused on German operas, including those by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss, he has an interest in ice hockey and played amateur hockey for a period. A member of Beth El Synagogue, he served as president of the congregation from 2005 to 2007.

After leaving Mobil, Arnheim joined the Washington Opera as executive director in January 2000, which he led for two and a half years, working closely with artistic director Plácido Domingo and overseeing a period of rapid growth and expansion for the company. A long-time opera afficiando, he previously served as Mobil's representative on the board of the Washington Opera from 1996-1999. The move to opera management was an opportunity to bring his business acumen to support the nonprofit world. While serving as Executive Director, Arnheim lead a $2 million renovation and relocation of the Washington Opera's costume and rehearsal studio to Takoma Park

For more than three decades, he was employed by Mobil Oil joining the company in 1968 in operations research. He retired as treasurer of the company following the merger with ExxonMobil in 1999. Over the course of his 31 years with the company, he served in multiple positions and locations, including assistant treasurer for Europe and Africa, based in London, and vice president for economics and planning, based in Mobil's US headquarters.

Arnheim earned his BS in chemical engineering degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1966 and an MBA in operations research and finance from Columbia University in 1968.

Walter R. Arnheim (born October 10, 1944, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American oil company executive and former director of the Washington National Opera. He is currently a renewable energy specialist, private equity manager, and an adviser to companies and non-profit organizations.