Patricia Ireland earned the BA in German at UT in 1966. She worked as a waitress and a cancan dancer, and then became a flight attendant for Pan American Airways (1967–75). At Pan Am, her career as a political activist on behalf of women was launched when she discovered that her husband’s dental work was not covered by her Pan Am policy, but such work needed by her male colleagues’ wives was covered. She fought Pan Am with the assistance of the National Organization of Women and won equal benefits.
In 1975 she graduated cum laude from the University of Miami Law School, where she served on both the Law Review Board and the Lawyer of Americas journal. She was a practicing attorney in Miami handling corporate and commercial cases for a prestigious Miami firm while serving as pro bono counsel for NOW. She served as president of NOW from 1991 to 2001, the longest tenure of a NOW president. During her term, she developed Project Stand Up for Women to combat antiabortion clinic blockades and to defend women’s access to reproductive health services. In 1994 under her guidance, NOW won a Supreme Court victory in NOW v. Scheidler, affirming NOW’s rights to use antiracketeering laws against antiabortion terrorists who organize others to bomb and block clinics and intimidate patients.
In May 2003 she assumed the chief executive’s role at the national YWCA but was fired in October 2003. The right-wing group Traditional Values Coalition claimed credit for the firing, and it was that group that sought federal review of grants to the YWCA and urged legislators to restrict funding to the organization.
She served as campaign manager for Carol Moseley Braun’s unsuccessful bid for the 2004 Democratic nomination for president. She is the author of What Women Want (1996).