After the completion of her Ph.D., Trombley accepted a teaching position at the
State University of New York at Potsdam where she earned tenure as an associate professor of English. Trombley also served as assistant provost there. In 1997, she assumed the post of vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at
Coe College, the first woman to hold that title. She was named President of
Pitzer College at age 40. She was chosen, in 2015, as the first woman President of the
Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Trombley became an advisor to the Board of Trustees at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in 2017 and a consultant to the
Libra Foundation and
Schiff Foundation. She is an adjunct professor of the practice of English at the University of Southern California. Trombley began her Mark Twain scholarship while a USC doctoral student, with the largest find of Twain letters to date. At SUNY Potsdam, she was a recipient of the 1994 SUNY Potsdam President's Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities Award.
Pitzer College presidency Trombley was inaugurated as president of
Pitzer College in February 2003. In her first year in office, she made the
SAT an optional criterion for admission to the college. During Trombley's presidency, Pitzer founded the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, the Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology in Costa Rica, and the Vaccine Development Institute's partnership with the
University of Botswana. During her tenure, the college's student participation in overseas study increased from 49% to 80% and over 50 student exchanges were established. The admission acceptance rate declined from 56 percent to 11 percent, and the college moved up 35 places in the
U.S. News & World Report rankings, from no. 70 in 2004 to no. 35 in 2014. In 2012, Pitzer was named the 20th most selective higher education institution in the country by
Business Insider and Pitzer was the top producer of student Fulbright Fellows for five consecutive years, according to
The Chronicle of Higher Education. While she was president, she completed three fundraising campaigns totaling over $110 million and the college's endowment grew from $42 million to $133 million. Trombley established three endowments: the John Skandera student financial aid fund for first generation students, the Laura Skandera Trombley endowment, and the Laura Skandera Trombley Humanities and Arts Endowed Research and Internship Fund. Trombley's resignation was announced in December 2014, effective June 30, 2015. In June 2015, the faculty made a
vote of no confidence, citing concerns about the lack of shared
governance during her administration, as a "message to prospective presidential candidates that Pitzer takes issues of shared governance seriously".
Huntington Library presidency In 2015 Trombley was appointed president of
Huntington Library, becoming the library's first female president. In her first year, she raised $39.4 million, a $9 million increase over the previous year. The Huntington also reached a new high of nearly 40,000 member families and 725,759 visitors. Trombley modified the plan for the final phase of the Chinese Garden, adding a restaurant, outdoor entertainment space, and an art gallery, and completed funding for the 20-year project, with gifts totaling $12 million. In addition, she planned and received a $2.5 million gift for a Director of Research home to be built on the grounds of The Huntington, its first
LEED certified building. She worked to establish internal sustainability and water conservation efforts; organized the first institutional sustainability summit; and signed an agreement with the
University of California, Riverside to subsidize the hiring of two assistant professors who will research full-time in The Huntington's collections. Trombley created the first institutional dashboard; instituted The Huntington Channel to archive videos and webcasts for the public; and created the Out of the Vault Series, to heighten the Huntington's profile in the southern California region. She instituted San Marino Day and made a $5,000 gift in her father's name to honor San Marino educators. She negotiated a new agreement between The Huntington and USC for The Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West (ICW) and USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Institute (EMSI). In fall 2016, the Jonathan and Karin Fielding Wing opened, a $10.3 million expansion to the Virginia Steele Scott Galleries of American Art designed by Frederick Fisher, along with a major contribution of the Fieldings' collection.
University of Bridgeport presidency On March 12, 2018, the University of Bridgeport announced Trombley would succeed
Neil Salonen as president, effective July 1, 2018.
Southwestern University presidency On April 2, 2020, Southwestern University of Texas announced Trombley would succeed
Edward Burger as president, effective July 1, 2020. ==Other activity==