Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
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Irwin, Bill
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
William Henry Irwin was born on 25 October 1932 in Texas, United States, to William Irwin and Marguerite Hunsaker. He attended St. Anne’s Elementary School and St. Thomas High School in Houston, graduating in 1950. Irwin entered the Congregation of St. Basil in the early 1950s, professed perpetual vows in the late 1950s, and was ordained to the priesthood on 28 June 1959.
Irwin completed theological and biblical studies in Canada, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. He earned degrees from the University of Toronto (B.A., M.A.), the University of St. Michael’s College (S.T.B.), the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas – Angelicum (S.T.L.), and the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome (S.S.B., S.S.L., S.S.D.). His academic formation included study in Jerusalem and Germany, with a research focus on Old Testament theology, wisdom literature, prophetic writings, and the Deuteronomistic History.
Irwin held early teaching appointments at Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin, and Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania. In 1969, he became a Permanent Resident of Canada and joined the Faculty of Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College (USMC), University of Toronto. Over more than three decades, he served as Dean of Theology and Director of Advanced Degree Programs, overseeing graduate theological education offered through USMC in collaboration with the Toronto School of Theology (TST). From 2001 to 2004, he served as President of Assumption University, Windsor, Ontario.
Irwin participated in theological accreditation as external consultant, site-visit chair, and evaluator for the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) and the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), conducting reviews of institutions in Canada and the United States. A biblical scholar, Irwin specialized in the Book of Job, Isaiah, the Psalter, and covenantal themes in the Hebrew Bible. He presented at the Society of Biblical Literature and the TST Biblical Colloquium and contributed peer review and editorial work to journals including The Catholic Biblical Quarterly and Biblica. He was a member of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), contributing to the English translation of the Roman Canon.
Alongside academic work, Irwin conducted parish missions, retreats, and lectures in Canada, the United States, and abroad. He retired from full-time teaching in 1998, retaining an office at the John M. Kelly Library, USMC, and continued limited teaching, mentorship, and scholarship.
He died on 6 December 2023 at Presentation Manor, Scarborough, Ontario, and was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Thornhill, Ontario.