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, engag ...

(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 Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Humane Society International (HSI), is a global nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scop ...

(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 Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

and taught for six years at the

Boston University School of Theology The Boston University School of Theology (STH) 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 sc ...

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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' 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'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

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, .

References

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