Daughter of Luisa Silva Molina and Dario Salas, she was born on March 11th, 1903.
She studied at public schools in the capitol to later attend high school at the Liceo Nº de Niñas (Public School Nº5 for Girls). Later, she enrolled in the Pedagogical Institute of the Universidad de Chile, where she obtained the degree of English teacher in 1924.
After being sent by the government to the United States for perfection lessons, she became part of the teachers at the Pedagogical Institute, work she would carry out for 36 years.
At the same time, she participated in the creation, and was appointed headmistress, of he Liceo Experimental Manuel de Salas (Manuel de Salas Experimental Public School), position she held until 1943. Two years later, she was elected president of the Secondary Education Gradual Renovation Commission, whose main objective was bringing the country’s education up to date with the times.
Her job as a researcher and pedagogue did not cease, assuming the position of head of the Department of Education of the Faculty of Philosophy of the Universidad de Chile in 1946.
Later, she founded the Education Institute at the same house of knowledge.
Her merits earned her an appointment as permanent specialist in Education for Unesco in 1953 (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), in Paris. In our country she was the director of the Latin American Center for the Education of Education Specialists, which belonged to the same body.
Her outstanding career was enough to earn her the Andres Bello Inter-American Award for Education, handed out by the Organization of American States (OEA).
Irma Salas died on April 28th, 1987.
