Robert Morris Arnold

Robert M. Arnold

Robert M. Arnold is a native Seattleite and a longtime benefactor of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He has served on the Center's board of directors since 1976, succeeding his father, Lawrence M. Arnold. He is also a founding member of the Hutch Senior Council, on which he continues to serve. Arnold has been donating to the Center since 1961.

Arnold's alma mater is Yale University, where he received his bachelor-of-arts degree in business administration and economics. He went on to graduate with honors from Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington. Arnold started working for Seattle-First National Bank during summer vacations, rejoining the Seafirst team in 1955 after being released from four years of active military service as a carrier-based naval aviator. In 1961 he was elected assistant vice president, continuing his responsibilities as a lending officer until 1965 when he was elected vice president and placed in charge of 11 Western states. In 1981 he retired from the bank and his position as senior vice president, but he continued to serve on the bank's board of directors until 1999.

The Hutchinson Center is not the only organization to benefit from Arnold's generosity; other beneficiaries include the Seattle Art Museum and Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, home of Seattle Opera. Arnold is a founding member and past president of PONCHO and has served on many arts boards including the Seattle Art Museum, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Opera, Allied Arts and the King County Arts Commission.

Arnold has two daughters: Grace Arnold of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; and Lauren Arnold Gorter of Chicago. He also has two grandsons: Christopher and Taylor Gorter, the sons of Lauren and David Gorter.