Biography

Laura Skandera Trombley was born Laura Skandera and raised in Southern California

Southern California

Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...

. At the age of 16, she began attending Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...

, where she earned a BA, summa cum laude (1981), and MA (1983). She then earned a PhD in English literature (1989) from the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

. While at USC, Skandera Trombley was the Lester and Irene Finkelstein Fellow and received the Virginia Barbara Middleton Scholarship and the English Graduate Student Scholarship.

Upon completion of her PhD, Skandera Trombley accepted a teaching position at the State University of New York

State University of New York

The State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...

 in Potsdam where she was awarded early tenure as associate professor of English and held several administrative posts, including special assistant to the president, director of the Teaching, Tenure and Promotion Assistance Program and assistant provost. In 1997, Skandera Trombley assumed the post of vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Coe College

Coe College

Coe College is a private, four-year, liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founded in 1851, the institution is historically affiliated with the Presbyterian Church . Its current president is James R. Phifer. It is one of the smaller universities to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa...

, a private liberal arts college in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...

. She was inaugurated president of Pitzer College in 2003.

Skandera Trombley has authored five books—the most recent, Mark Twain's Other Woman: The Hidden Story of His Final Yearshttp://www.lauratrombley.org, was published by Knopf in March 2010. The paperback edition will be released on March 8, 2011.

Presidency

Skandera Trombley's inauguration as president of Pitzer College on February 15, 2003 marked the beginning of the College's 40th anniversary year. She has positioned herself as a visionary leader, bringing to the College a level of energy and imagination suitable for a progressive young college combined with the seriousness and determination of an institution that is, as she noted in her inaugural address, "coming of age." In her first year in office she supported the faculty in their desire to make the SAT optional as a criterion for admission to the College, making Pitzer the West Coast innovator in SAT

SAT

The SAT Reasoning Test is a standardized test for college admissions in the United States. The SAT is owned, published, and developed by the College Board, a nonprofit organization in the United States. It was formerly developed, published, and scored by the Educational Testing Service which still...

-optional admission practices. She led Pitzer's first strategic planning process whereby faculty, students, staff, alumni, and trustees collectively identified the College's five-year fiscal priorities. In the seven years since she assumed leadership of the College, the admission acceptance rate has gone from 56% to 20%, applications have increased by 75%, annual giving has increased by 35% and the College moved up 20 places in the US News & World Report rankings. Through her leadership and by securing $5 million, the largest single-donor gift since its founding, the College was able to go over the top of its first comprehensive capital campaign ahead of schedule. Under her leadership, the College built three Gold LEED-Certified residence halls, and will build three more over the next few years.

During her presidency, Pitzer College became the national leader in Fulbright Fellowships won by students and alumni. Since 2002, Pitzer College received more Fulbright Fellowships per 1000 students than any other college or university in the US. Seventy-four percent of Pitzer students study abroad, compared to under 2% nationally. Most recently, Pitzer was named the ninth most selective liberal arts school and ranked 17th nationwide for faculty commitment to teaching by the 2010 "US News and World Report." In the same publication, Pitzer's Study Abroad Program was named an outstanding academic program and ranked 11th among liberal arts colleges for racial diversity.

Writings

Recognized as a noted Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

 scholar, Skandera Trombley's fifth book, Mark Twain's Other Woman: The Hidden Story of His Final Years http://www.lauratrombley.org was published by Knopf in March 2010. She is also the author of Mark Twain in the Company of Women (1994) and co-editor (with Michael Kiskis) of the volume Constructing Mark Twain: New Directions in Scholarship (2002). She appeared in the 2002 Ken Burns

Ken Burns

Kenneth Lauren "Ken" Burns is an American director and producer of documentary films, known for his style of using archival footage and photographs...

 documentary titled "Mark Twain" and was invited to a White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 literary symposium on American authors. In addition, she is the editor of Critical Essays on Maxine Hong Kingston (1998); and co-author of Epistemology: Turning Points in the History of Poetic Knowledge (1986). Since becoming president at Pitzer, she has published op-ed pieces in the Chronicle of Higher Education on the challenges faced by women in higher education administration and access to college in California, in the Los Angeles Times on the merits of the SAT exams as predictors of college success and on The Daily Beast on Mark Twain as the first American celebrity.

Other Activity

In 2008, Skandera Trombley received the CEO Leadership Award from the Council of Advancement and Support of Education District VII. In the June 2005 issue of The Inland Empire Magazine, she was named as one of five "women who count" in the Inland Empire

Inland Empire (California)

The Inland Empire is a region in Southern California. The region sits directly east of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Inland Empire most commonly is used in reference to the U.S. Census Bureau's federally-defined Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area, which covers more than...

 by setting the standard for achievement in their field.

Skandera Trombley is an active leader within Los Angeles area organizations. She is an elected member of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Board, the Webb Schools Board, the San Gabriel Chapter of the Young Presidents' Organization

Young Presidents' Organization

The Young Presidents’ Organization is a global network of young chief executives. With approximately 18,000 members in more than 100 countries, YPO and its graduate organization, WPO share a founding mission: Better Leaders Through Education and Idea Exchange....

, the Organization of Women Executives, the Pacific Council on International Policy

Pacific Council on International Policy

The Pacific Council on International Policy is a non-partisan organization headquartered in Los Angeles with members and activities throughout the West Coast of the United States and internationally....

 and The Trusteeship. In 2002, Skandera Trombley was honored as Pepperdine University's 2002 Distinguished Alumna.

She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations

Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...

 Higher Education Working Group on Global Issues, the Chronicle of Higher Education/New York Times Higher Education Cabinet and the Rotary Club of Claremont.