Throughout her educational career spanning over fifty years, Irene has been a leader in mathematics education in elementary, middle, high school, and higher education. Irene received her B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from Temple University, her M.A. in Secondary Mathematics from Arcadia University, and her Ed.D. from Temple University.

Irene began her career teaching elementary and middle school mathematics in the School District of Philadelphia, where she served for twenty years. She became a supervisor of mathematics for the School District of Philadelphia before pursuing full-time doctoral studies at Temple University.

Early in her career, Irene developed an interest in the extensive use of children’s literature to provide a context for mathematics lessons. She lectured on this topic nationally. Irene’s book about diverse achievers applies these same principles of context to teach lessons about the strength of diversity.

Beginning in 1985 and through the following decades, she served as an adjunct professor at several colleges, including Arcadia University, Cabrini College, St. Joseph’s University, Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania, West Chester University, and Widener University. In her career she has also been a mathematics supervisor, mathematics consultant, and a director for a nationally known mathematics program.

From 1997 to her retirement from public school education in 2007, Irene was the K–12 Supervisor of Mathematics in the Lower Merion School District of Ardmore, Pennsylvania.

In addition to her teaching and supervisory work, Irene founded Do Math for The Fun of It, Inc., a mathematics education consulting firm specializing in professional development at all levels of mathematics education.

She also founded the Foundation to Achieve Mathematics Excellence, a tax-qualified educational organization to provide training and support for teachers who wish to increase their content knowledge and enhance their professional development. Through her volunteer efforts toward this end, with help from other nationally recognized mathematics educators, she conducted expansive programs in numerous public, private, and religious schools.

Irene has conducted hundreds of seminars and workshops in all aspects of mathematics education for schools, school districts, and professional organizations at local, state, and national levels. She has been a presenter at annual and regional meetings of teachers and an active member of many national and regional professional organizations. Irene served as Trustee of the Mathematics Education Trust of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics from 2002 to 2006.

After retiring as a school district administrator, Irene devoted time and energy to giving back to the teaching profession on the faculty of the College of Education and Human Development of her alma mater, Temple University, where she taught until 2020.