Director of Accreditation
412-788-6505, ext. 265
naydenov@ats.edu
Emanuel D. Naydenov was named director of accreditation for The Association of Theological Schools (ATS) in 2023. He is responsible for facilitating accrediting reviews,
providing education and support to member schools about the process of accreditation, and providing staff support to the work of the Board of Commissioners of the ATS
Commission on Accrediting.
An educator with more than 30 years of experience in theological education and formation for ministry, Naydenov came to ATS from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School of Trinity
International University (TEDS). He served as director of the master’s programs and director of the MA in Theological Studies Program, and he led the Office of Extension
and Affiliated Education. He recently served on the Board of Commissioners of the ATS Commission on Accrediting where, along with many other responsibilities, he contributed
to the work of the Global Awareness and Engagement Initiative of ATS. Prior
to TEDS, he was involved in launching Bulgaria’s first accredited seminary after the fall of Communism.
Naydenov, an ordained minister in the Evangelical Free Church of America, is a member of the Evangelical Theological Society, the American Academy of Religion, a cofounder of
the Roundtable for Distance Education, and a contributor to the Bulgarian Journal of Theology and other indigenous theological and educational projects.
He earned an MDiv from Bethel Theological Seminary and a PhD in religious studies in the area of systematic theology from Marquette University.
