About Patricia Ireland

Patricia Ireland (born October 19, 1945) is an American administrator and feminist. She served as president of the National Organization for Women from 1991 to 2001 and published an autobiography, What Women Want, in 1996.

Ireland was born on October 19, 1945, in Oak Park, Illinois. Her parents are James Ireland, a metallurgical engineer, and Joan Filipek, a volunteer counselor and local director of Planned Parenthood. She grew up in Valparaiso, Indiana, and graduated from Valparaiso High School at the age of sixteen in 1962. She began studying at DePauw University and married Don Anderson, a student at Ball State University, and the couple transferred to the University of Tennessee. She quickly divorced her first husband and received her bachelor's degree from the university in 1966. She received a J.D. degree from the University of Miami School of Law in 1975. She also attended Florida State University College of Law.