Rev. Dr. Frank Yamada

Frank M. Yamada is the executive director of The Association of Theological Schools (ATS). He oversees the work of both the Association and the Commission on Accrediting. During his tenure, ATS has re-developed the Standards of Accreditation, received over $50 million in grant funding to support the future of theological schools and their leaders, successfully navigated the multiple programs of the Association through the global pandemic, and partnered with Lilly Endowment Inc. through the Pathways for Tomorrow Initiative, which has granted $209 million to ATS-accredited schools and supporting organizations. This funding supports schools as they make the changes necessary to pursue more effective and sustainable futures.

Prior to ATS, Yamada joined the McCormick Theological Seminary faculty in 2008 as associate professor of Hebrew Bible and director of the Center for Asian American Ministries. In 2011, he was elected as McCormick’s tenth president—the first Asian American to lead a Presbyterian Church (USA) seminary. His tenure there was marked by increasing diversity in McCormick’s student body and creative engagement with the shifting realities of theological education. Yamada had previously taught Hebrew Bible/Old Testament for nine years at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

A biblical scholar, Yamada has authored and edited books and articles on cross-cultural and feminist hermeneutics. He was an active member of the Society of Biblical Literature, where he served as a chair and as a steering committee member of the Asian American Biblical Hermeneutics Group, the Feminist Hermeneutics of the Bible Section, and the Committee for Underrepresented Racial and Ethnic Minorities in the Profession. In addition, he was a member of the Ethnic Chinese Biblical Colloquium and the American Academy of Religion, and he was the co-chair for the Managing Board of the Asian Pacific Americans and Religion Research Initiative annual conference.

A graduate of Southern California College (now Vanguard University), Yamada earned his MDiv and PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and has written about and it is a sought-after speaker on the future of the church and theological education.