Dr. Paul G. Irwin is the current president and CEO of Elephants in Crisis, former president of the

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

(2005 – June 2008) and former host of ''American Bible Society Presents''. Prior to that, he was president of the

Humane Society of the United States The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...

(HSUS) between 1975 and 2004. Irwin is an ordained minister of the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelical ...

and taught for six years at the

Boston University School of Theology Boston University School of Theology (BUSTH) is the oldest theological seminary of American Methodism and the founding school of Boston University, the largest private research university in New England. It is one of thirteen theological school ...

Controversy

In 1996, the Humane Society of Canada (as an affiliate of HSUS) filed a lawsuit alleging that Irwin and other HSUS officials transferred $1 million from their account to HSUS without authorization. They also alleged HSUS "took its donor list, and overcharged for administrative costs." In January 1997, a Canadian judge ruled in favor of the Humane Society of Canada, writing: "I cannot imagine a more glaring conflict of interest or a more egregious breach of fiduciary duty. It demonstrates an overweening arrogance of a type seldom seen." Irwin's tenure as president at the American Bible Society (ABS) ended after his contract was not renewed by the organization's trustees. He was placed on paid leave (along with chief financial officer Richard B. Stewart, Jr.) after an article in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' linked him with Richard J. Gordon, a web consultant hired by ABS, who was a convicted felon with ties to online pornography and gambling enterprises. At that time, it was revealed by

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

that, while president of the Humane Society, Irwin used $85,000 of Humane Society money for renovate a home in Maine in 1987. In April 2003, the Humane Society paid $881,000 to Gordon's Exciting New Technologies (ENT) company; ENT hired Irwin's son (Christopher) as director of business development. As president of ABS, Irwin hired Exciting New Technologies again, paying the company more than $5,000,000 for Web design, e-mail marketing, and digitizing the Bible.

Works

''Losing Paradise: The Growing Threat to Our Animals, Our Environment, and Ourselves'' (2000) Garden City Park, NY:

Square One Publishers Square One Publishers is a publishing company, founded in 2000 by Rubin "Rudy" Shur, a former Avery Publishing president. Rudy Shur serves as the Chief Executive Officer. Their offices are located in Garden City, New York, home to other publisher' ...

, .

References

American nonprofit chief executives Boston University faculty Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-tv-bio-stub