Born on December 30, 1841, in Washington, D.C., Agnes Irwin was a great-great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin and a daughter of a congressman from Pennsylvania. She was educated privately and early displayed remarkable intelligence and love of learning. In 1862, six years after her father╒s death, she moved with her family to New York City and became a teacher in a private school. In 1869 she accepted the principalship of a private school in Philadelphia that shortly afterward was renamed the Agnes Irwin School. For 25 years she maintained high standards at the school, acquiring in the process a reputation that extended beyond Philadelphia.
In 1894 Irwin╒s name was suggested for the post of dean of the newly chartered Radcliffe College, formerly the Society for the Collegiate Instruction of Women at Harvard. In May she stepped into the new and demanding job. She worked well with Elizabeth Cary Agassiz, president of the college, who left the administration of the school mainly to the dean. Irwin quietly worked to expand the Radcliffe curriculum, calling more and more on the resources of Harvard, and by 1902 she had created a program capable of awarding doctoral degrees. During her tenure four dormitories were built, the first opened in 1901, thus making Radcliffe more accessible to young women from other parts of the country. A gymnasium, a library, and an administration building were also built during that time. From 1899, when Agassiz became honorary president and withdrew still more from the management of the college, Irwin was the effective head of the college. The appointment of a Harvard faculty member, LeBaron R. Briggs, as president to succeed Agassiz in 1903 came as a great disappointment to Irwin, who apparently believed she had originally been assured of the succession. She remained at Radcliffe until 1909, and during 1901╨1907 she served also as president of the Woman╒s Education Association of Boston. In 1909 she returned to Philadelphia. She was president of the Head Mistresses╒ Association of Private Schools from 1911 to 1914. She died in Philadelphia on December 5, 1914.
