Leading Alumnae

-By Jerry Derloshon

They have in common degrees from Pepperdine-one a bachelor's and master's from Seaver College and the other an Ed.D. from the Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP)-both were born in the Los Angeles area, and both lead colleges celebrating fortieth anniversaries.

Laura Skandera Trombley

Good fortune has followed Laura Skandera Trombley, the fifth president of Pitzer College, wherever she has gone. On her inaugural day, February 15, 2003, the prestigious liberal arts institution-one of the acclaimed Claremont colleges- celebrated its fortieth anniversary.

The tall, youthful-looking redhead has achieved a measure of success as a scholar, teacher, and administrator that some strive for their entire careers and never attain. If she has struggled mightily to reach this admirable plateau in her career, it isn't apparent. Instead, she has settled into the role of college president with apparent ease and confidence.

Born and raised in Southern California, young Laura Skandera was an especially bright student, graduating from North Torrance High School a year early. She followed her father's and uncle's footsteps to Pepperdine University in 1977. Both men had met their wives at Pepperdine, and including cousins, Skandera Trombley has nine relatives who attended the University.

The talented student caught the attention of Seaver College Professor Jim Atteberry, who saw in her "a gifted student who had not been sufficiently challenged." Under his guidance, she changed her major to English, graduated with a bachelor's degree, and immediately pursued her master's, earning it summa cum laude from the University in 1983. From Pepperdine, she entered the University of Southern California (USC) in pursuit of a Ph.D. as a Lester and Irene Finkelstein fellow. She later traveled to Germany and studied at Universitaet Eichstaett, while continuing in the USC program.

Here's when fortune smiled so brightly upon Skandera Trombley that she probably had to shade her eyes. It was 1986, and her professor at USC learned of a Los Angeles man who claimed to have acquired original correspondence written by Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). The professor suggested that his prized pupil, Laura Skandera, investigate.

Not only did she confirm the man's claim, but it turned out that he had no less than one hundred handwritten personal letters from the creator of Tom Sawyer, primarily written to Clemens' three daughters. The man had bought the letters for a few dollars from a stamp collector, who obviously hadn't peeked into the envelopes.

Skandera Trombley's detailed research of Clemens and close scrutiny of the letters revealed a side to the celebrated writer that until then had eluded Mark Twain scholars. Skandera Trombley advanced a portrait of the author as a beloved family man, which is now accepted by leading Twain scholars around the world.

With her Ph.D. in hand and her own fame firmly established, Skandera Trombley taught English at Pepperdine briefly, then headed off to New York state and the English department at SUNY Potsdam. She spent seven years teaching there and later accepted a position as special assistant to the president of SUNY, where she got her first up-closeand- personal look into the life of a college president.

From 1995 to 1997, she served as SUNY Potsdam's assistant provost, and then left New York for Coe College in Iowa to be vice president for academic affairs. In five years at Coe, nearly every key factor-from its tier ranking

in U.S. News & World Report (from fourth to second) to retention and faculty grants-surged in the right direction.

When Pitzer College sought its fifth president in forty years, the institution turned to Skandera Trombley, the wife of Nelson Trombley and mother of a seven-year-old son named "Sparkey." President Skandera Trombley returned to Pepperdine in December 2002, when she was presented the Distinguished Alumna Award.

Still practicing her long-held routine of swimming one mile each day, Skandera Trombley is now focused on leading Pitzer's continued drive toward excellence, one graceful stroke at a time. As for herself, she plans to remain true to a few simple principles: "Do the very best job I can, be happy in what I do, and hope I am valued along the way."

Maria Sheehan

Growing up in Los Angeles in the 1950s, Maria (Provost) Sheehan, the daughter of Panamanian immigrants, learned from her parents that education was the key to making it in the world. She recalled that as a child she knew she would one day "go to college," even though she wasn't sure what exactly "college" was.

Today, as president of the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, California, she has never forgotten that valuable lesson and has committed her life to passing it along to others.

Sheehan attended Immaculate Heart High School in Hollywood and earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1969, followed by master's degrees in special education and counseling. She entered the inaugural doctor of education class at Pepperdine's GSEP, earning her Ed.D. in administration in 1981.

By then, Sheehan already had excelled at a variety of teaching and administrative positions in higher education, including as a part-time instructor, counselor, and director of student affairs at various community colleges in the Los Angeles area. She earned a reputation for finishing her many assignments in an environment where assignments are likely to spin in endless circles. This caught the attention of administrators in Sacramento, where she was chosen to serve as vice chancellor of human resources for the California Community College system. Sheehan dived headlong into building relationships as well as bursting bureaucratic barriers wherever and whenever she could. She reflected that it was "hard but satisfying work," and it prepared her for bigger things to come.

In 1995, Sheehan accepted an invitation to become president of Modesto Junior College, where new challenges confronted the first-time president with brute force. "I inherited a half-a-million-dollar deficit," she recalled, "and an administration and faculty that didn't speak with one another or among themselves."

She slowly restored confidence in the administration and built a foundation of trust among faculty, staff, and administrators. The deficit was erased, and the result was six straight years of progress. However, when the opportunity arose to return to Southern California, Sheehan took it.

The College of the Desert recently celebrated its fortieth anniversary, providing two-year degree programs and a myriad of job and career-related courses and programs for a student population whose average age is thirty.

Small and thin in stature and dressed in a business suit, Sheehan smiled warmly when asked what she likes most about the job. "The students, without a doubt," said the president, who works closely with the student leadership and is herself a familiar face on the campus.

Turning to what she likes least about the work, Sheehan's brow furrowed, thinking of the harsh realities of the state's current fiscal crisis. "Not long ago, public higher education called occasionally on the private sector to help fund very select, special programs and such," she recalled. "These days, we are having to turn to the private sector to help with operational funds."

In tough times, Sheehan draws on skills, experiences, and beliefs that have served her well during her distinguished career in the higher education trenches. She is outspoken and positive about the education she received from Pepperdine.

"The classes were intensive and comprehensive," Sheehan said. "Our requirements as researchers and presenters, and the depth of the financial material we studied, have all helped make me a better college president."

Her job is of the "24/7" variety, taking care of administrative matters by day and circulating through the desert's mover-and-shaker communities on nights and weekends.

It is easy for Sheehan to see beyond the expansive residential drives and posh shops of Palm Springs and its surrounding desert communities. She sees mostly the faces of students-young and old-trying to advance to a four-year degree program elsewhere or to learn new skills for a better paying job.

Seeing these faces reminds Sheehan of her own upbringing in Los Angeles, and she will always remember the maxim: Education is the key to making it in this world.