Dr. Paul G. Irwin is the current president and CEO of Elephants in Crisis,[1] former president of the American Bible Society (2005 – June 2008) and former host of American Bible Society Presents.[2] Prior to that, he was president of the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) between 1975 and 2004.[1]
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.[3] 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."[4][5]
Irwin's tenure as president at the American Bible Society (ABS) ended after his contract was not renewed by the organization's trustees.[6][7] 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,[5] a web consultant hired by ABS, who was a convicted felon[8] with ties to online pornography and gambling enterprises.[7][5] 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.[5][9] 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.[5] 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.[5][10]
