Dornheim, Arthur R.

Arthur R. Dornheim was born in New York City on March 12, 1921. He attended Yale University, majoring in international relations, and graduated in 1942. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Dornheim enrolled into a Japanese language class in place of an international economics course. In March 1942, Dornheim was recruited for the US Navy Japanese Language School located at the University of Colorado. After graduating from JLS in 1943, Dornheim was sent to JICPOA in Pearl Harbor where he served primarily as a translator of captured Japanese documents. In early 1944, Dornheim finished a 70-plus page translation of a notebook kept by a Japanese ensign killed on Tarawa. Dornheim matriculated at Columbia University's School of International Affairs. He received his master's degree in June 1948 and worked for two months at the French Groupement D'Importation et Repartition des Metaux. Following this, Dornheim entered the State Department's Office of Intelligence Research, Division of Research for Far East (DRF) China Branch. Dornheim became a Foreign Service Officer in 1956, from which he retired in 1977, after serving abroad in Hong Kong, Ethiopia, and Taiwan, along with three posts in Washington. Following his retirement, Dornheim became executive director of the Japan America Society of Washington. He organized numerous programs to improve public understanding of Japan and to arouse the interest of members in the Society. In 1981, Dornheim organized a one-day symposium on the exchange of technology between Japan and the United States. After retiring from the Japan America Society, Dornheim became the treasurer of Far East Luncheon Group and of the Maryland chapter of the Foreign Affairs Retirees Association. In 2000 he organized a reunion of former State Department DRF intelligence researchers.

From the description of Arthur R. Dornheim Collection, 1942-1981 (bulk 1942-1945). (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: 300991120

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