Former Ambassadors
Ambassador Roland E. Arnall (2006-2008)
Roland E. Arnall of California was Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He was sworn in by Secretary Rice on February 27, 2006. He resigned effective March 7, 2008.
Previously, Amb. Arnall was Chairman of the Board of Ameriquest Capital Corporation, a privately held financial services company headquartered in Southern California. Founded by Amb. Arnall in 1979 and driven by a vision to make homeownership a reality for millions of Americans, Ameriquest Capital Corporation became one of the leading financial services companies in the United States. Ameriquest helped modernize the nonprime lending industry, which today is recognized as an essential part of home financing in America.
Amb. Arnall began his entrepreneurial career as a young man selling flowers on street corners in Los Angeles. He entered the real estate business and, in the 1970s, expanded his business interests to financial services. Over the years, he made significant investments in a diversified portfolio of successful business ventures in technology, oil and gas exploration, real estate and insurance.
Amb. Arnall was an active citizen and philanthropist. Amb. Arnall was a member of California's Education Task Force Committee and was a Trustee for 16 years of the California State University system, the largest university system in the world. He was founding Co-Chairman and Trustee of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Museum of Tolerance. He and his wife Dawn supported dozens of animal protection, artistic, educational, medical, political, human rights, and religious organizations around the world.
Amb. Arnall was born in Paris, France on the eve of World War II and relocated to Montreal, Canada after the end of the war. In the late 1950s, he moved to California with his family.
Amb. Arnall died in Los Angeles, March 17, 2008.
