Howard Samuel Irwin

Howard Samuel Irwin Jr. (March 28, 1928 – January 23, 2019) was an American botanist and taxonomist who specialized in the genus Cassia and worked as an administrator at the New York Botanical Garden, Long Island University, and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Early life and education Irwin was born in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1928. He began his education at Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, after which point he entered Hofstra College to pursue a career in music. He then transferred to the College of Puget Sound where he earned an undergraduate degree in biology with minors in music and history in 1950, and a subsequent degree in education. Irwin was then a Fulbright teacher of botany and zoology at Queen's College in British Guiana from 1952 until 1956. During that time he was a correspondent for Time magazine. In 1956 he began work on his PhD in taxonomic botany at the University of Texas, earning his degree in 1960. Irwin's vouchers were also deposited at NYBG and many can be viewed through the C. V. Starr Virtual Herbarium.

Irwin was hired as a research associate at NYBG in 1960, promoted to associate curator in 1963, curator and administrator of the herbarium in 1966, head curator in 1968, executive director in 1971, and president in 1973, a position that he held until 1979 to embark on a sabbatical to pursue scientific research and writing projects. The tenure of his administration is remembered as the most difficult financial period for NYBG, and Irwin is credited with leading the organization during a very challenging time.

In addition to his administrative work, Irwin is credited with initiating the Planalto do Brasil Program for the botanical study of the Brazilian Highlands region.

Honors and associations Former adjunct professor of botany at Lehman College Contributing editor to Encyclopedia Americana and earned a master's degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work. At the time of their marriage, she was a potter and craft instructor at the Hebrew Home for the Aged in Riverdale, a neighborhood in the Bronx.

Select publications Goodland, Robert JA, and Howard S. Irwin. "Amazon jungle: green hell to red desert?". Developments in Landscape Management and Urban Planning (Netherlands) eng no. 1 (1975). Irwin, Howard S., and Rupert C. Barneby. "The American cassiinaea synoptical revision of leguminosae tribe cassieae subtribe cassiinae in the New World". No. 580.744747 M4/v. 35/2. 1982. Irwin, Howard S., and Rupert C. Barneby. "Monographic Studies in Cassia (Leguminosae Caesalpinioideae), III, Sections Absus and Grimaldia". New York Botanical Garden, 1978. Wills, Mary Motz, and Howard S. Irwin. "Roadside flowers of Texas". (1961). Irwin, Howard S. "Monographic studies in Cassia (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae). I. Section Xerocalyx". Mem. NY Bot. Gdn 12.1 (1964): 1–114. Goodland, R., Howard S. Irwin, and Gus Tillman. "Ecological development for Amazonia". Ciência e Cultura. (1978).