(1967) and PhD (1969) in natural resource economics from Oregon State University, where his major professor was Emery Castle.[who?]

Since 2009, Bromley has been a visiting professor at the Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture of the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany.

In 2011 he was honored with the Reinhard-Lust-Preis for International Transfer of Science and Culture awarded jointly by the German Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung and the Fritz Thyssen-Stiftung.

For three years, Bromley served Chair of the U. S. Federal Advisory Committee on Marine Protected Areas.

Bromley also served on a special committee of the National Academy of Sciences on climate change in the United States.