Ryan Bonfiglio, Exemplary Teacher of the Year, charts new courses to learning at Candler

Ryan Bonfiglio’s path to Emory’s Exemplary Teacher of the Year starts in an unlikely spot: the wrestling mat.

“My first career after college was as a Division I assistant wrestling coach at Princeton University,” says Bonfiglio, who graduated from Princeton with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. “I really, really loved the job.”

While serving as assistant coach, Bonfiglio enrolled in a class at Princeton Theological Seminary. It was the casual endeavor, he explains, of someone “who had come to faith as an adult” and wanted to learn more.

One seminary class became two, then three. Courses about the Old Testament particularly interested him.

In 2006, he had an opportunity to apply for a job as Princeton’s head wrestling coach.

It was a “fork-in-the-road moment,” he says. “I had to decide, ‘Is my future going toward coaching and maybe athletic administration? Or am I going to go back to school full time as a seminary student?’”

Bonfiglio went on to earn a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a PhD from Emory’s Graduate Division of Religion at the James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies. In 2018, he joined the faculty at Candler School of Theology. He now serves as professor in the practice of Old Testament and founding executive director of The Candler Foundry, a center for public theological education.

When he is not teaching, he’s developing learning opportunities for traditional students and for those taking less traditional educational paths.

Bonfiglio teaches courses on campus, online and in a hybrid format that combine both in-person and online instruction. He has also launched public programs that expand Candler’s reach into the Atlanta community and around the world.

His respected work in both arenas has earned him the 2026 Exemplary Teacher of the Year Award, a distinction honoring exceptional teaching, significant contributions to the scholarly life of the university and high personal and professional standards.

Bonfiglio has made a mark as “an original teacher doing innovative work,” says Jonathan Strom, Mary Lee Hardin Willard Dean of Candler and professor of church history. “Time and time again, students talk about how knowledgeable and grounded he is in his field. And yet, he’s just excellent at communicating in really clear terms. I think that’s something we can all aspire to.” 

A coach approach

Bonfiglio’s candor about his beginnings boosted Ansley Holder’s confidence in her own decision to continue her studies.

A former public relations professional, Holder has worked as senior program coordinator at the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life on Emory’s Oxford College campus since 2011.   

Wishing to deepen her own faith and better serve the students whose faith traditions she encounters on the job, she pursued her Master of Religion and Public Life at Candler through a courtesy scholarship, an Emory staff benefit. She graduated in 2024.

“I felt like Dr. Bonfiglio’s story and mine were just a little bit similar,” she says. Like him, she was “inspired to learn more about something that wasn’t necessarily directly on my path.”

She took four courses with Bonfiglio, including challenging ones that were not required for her degree.

Bonfiglio’s encouraging attitude went a long way toward helping her to bring her A-game, Holder says; many students even call him “Coach.”

“It was, ‘Yes, I see that you get it. I see that spark in your eye,’” she says, “but he didn't want you to stop thinking about something just because you got the concept. It was always about that next step in your thinking, not the grade.”

In some classes, Bonfiglio even establishes what he calls a “non-subjective grading covenant.” At the start of a semester, seminary students who commit to A-level work agree to complete the maximum number of assignments at the highest level of rigor. That number declines for each successive grade that students choose for their covenant.

“I ask them to make that commitment at the beginning,” he says, “because studies show that intentionality has huge benefits for learning effort and focus throughout. And I think the lack of anxiety and increased agency unleash some of the best work I’ve seen.” 

Expanding access beyond campus

When Bonfiglio helped launch The Candler Foundry in 2018, his goal was clear cut: make seminary-level theological education as accessible as possible to members of the general public wishing to enrich their theological knowledge.

“We’re saying: You don’t reserve the best, most complex learning for only the people who are in the graduate programs,” says Strom.

Under Bonfiglio’s leadership, the Foundry developed a range of educational resources that expand its reach. Classes that are offered online, and in community locations like libraries and places of worship, encompass meaty topics like “The Bible and Poverty.” Many of the Foundry’s short, self-paced courses have become popular with church groups and book clubs.

And some courses traditionally offered only to master’s degree candidates welcome a mixture of Candler seminary students and community students — another innovation by Bonfiglio.  

“I think our community members challenge our seminary students to do better work,” he says, “because then seminarians can’t get away with the kind of jargon that happens in academic settings.”

The mixed classes Holder took as a seminary student were “almost like experiential learning,” she says, recalling how a fellow student who was a chaplain shared his experiences with his classmates.

“I actually couldn’t tell you who was in the seminary and who was a community member,” she says, “because everyone was so engaged.”

Bonfiglio also launched TheoEd, The Candler Foundry’s multicity series of “big idea” lectures delivered by leading religious and academic thinkers. In addition to its in-person talks, the TheoEd website offers free access to videos of the talks and related discussion guides.

“The Three-Minute Bible” is an online series developed by Bonfiglio giving insights about key biblical terms, concepts and dynamics through more than 60 short video lessons featuring Candler faculty. The series is available for free online.

“If you want to look at somebody who’s expressing all the different kinds of pedagogy that we aspire towards, Ryan fits the bill,” says Strom.

In addition to Bonfiglio’s skills as a teacher and educational innovator, Strom adds, he excels at leading a dynamic staff that puts ideas into action. 

Honoring your spark

The Exemplary Teacher of the Year award “is deeply affirming to my sense of calling to be a teacher,” Bonfiglio says.

“I’m incredibly grateful to Candler, and to Emory, for giving me this space to do the ‘traditional professor’ thing and to have this sandbox to find new and different modes of learning and teaching. I don’t think I could do this at any other place,” he says.

“It’s so meaningful to honor a very good human who puts lots of good into this world when it really needs it,” says Holder. “Look at what happens when you open yourself up to learning and just honor that little spark of interest.”