Mulroney, an executive with the Philadelphia-based chemical company Rohm and Haas, joined the board of directors of the opera company in 1985. He served as president from 1988-1994, hiring general director Robert Driver in 1991. From 1994-1998, he worked as chairman of the board, successfully steering the company through a period of financial instability, and at times writing payroll checks from his personal accounts, the company said.

In 1998, after Mulroney retired from a 40-year career at Rohn and Haas, he accepted a newly formed executive director position at the opera company on a volunteer basis.

"There is simply no way to overstate the enormity of Jack's contributions to the Opera Company of Philadelphia over his 20 years of involvement," general director Robert Driver said in a written statement. "Jack led the company through its darkest moments and always maintained the strong conviction that Philadelphia deserved an opera company of the highest level."

The OCP will dedicate its season to Mulroney's memory.