Paul Irwin

Dr. Paul G. Irwin is the current president and CEO of Elephants in Crisis,{{cite web|url=http://elephantsincrisis.org/index/drirwin|title=Dr. Paul Irwin|publisher=Elephants in Crisis|accessdate=11 May 2013}} former president of the American Bible Society (2005 – June 2008) and former host of American Bible Society Presents.{{cite web|url=http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view/post/11927745222400/Bible_TV_show_expands_on_satellite/|title=Bible TV show expands on satellite|publisher=religionandspirituality.com|date=19 October 2007}} Prior to that, he was president of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) between 1975 and 2004.

Irwin is an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church and taught for six years at the Boston University School of Theology.

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.{{Cite web|title=Paul Irwin|url=https://humanewatch.org/person/paul_irwin/|access-date=2020-08-18|website=HumaneWatch|language=en-US}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.humanewatch.org/person/paul_irwin/|title=Paul Irwin|publisher=Center for Consumer Freedom|accessdate=11 May 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/technology/18gordo.html|title=An E-Commerce Empire, From Porn to Puppies|author=Brad Stone|work=The New York Times|date=18 May 2008}}

Irwin's tenure as president at the American Bible Society (ABS) ended after his contract was not renewed by the organization's trustees.{{cite web|url=http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/06/bible_society_d.html|title=Bible Society Drops President|author=Madison Trammel|publisher=Christianity Today|date=9 June 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928040937/http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/06/bible_society_d.html|archivedate=28 September 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/mayweb-only/121-55.0.html|title=American Bible Society Seeks Revelations|author=Tony Carnes|publisher=Christianity Today|date=23 May 2008}} He was placed on paid leave (along with chief financial officer Richard B. Stewart, Jr.) after an article in The New York Times linked him with Richard J. Gordon, a web consultant hired by ABS, who was a convicted felon{{Cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/655/478/65295/|title=United States of America, Plaintiff-appellee, v. Richard J. Gordon, Defendant-appellant, 655 F.2d 478 (2d Cir. 1981)|website=Justia Law|language=en|access-date=2019-04-17}} with ties to online pornography and gambling enterprises. At that time, it was revealed by USA Today that, while president of the Humane Society, Irwin used $85,000 of Humane Society money for renovate a home in Maine in 1987.{{cite web|url=http://www.ministrywatch.com/pdf/mwda_100608_abs.pdf|title=ABS Board Fires its CEO Following a New York Times Expose|publisher=Ministry Watch|date=June 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305021749/http://www.ministrywatch.com/pdf/mwda_100608_abs.pdf|archivedate=2016-03-05}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldmag.com/2008/06/problems_at_the_top/Bible_TV_show_expands_on_satellite/|title=Problems at the top?|author1=Rusty Leonard |author2=Warren Cole Smith |publisher=World News Group|date=14 June 2008}}

Works

Losing Paradise: The Growing Threat to Our Animals, Our Environment, and Ourselves (2000) Garden City Park, NY: Square One Publishers, {{ISBN|0-7570-0003-7}}.{{cite book|title=Losing paradise|publisher=Open Library|ol = 24764930M}}

References

Category:American nonprofit chief executives

Category:Boston University faculty

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:American United Methodist clergy