Nancy Combs joined the faculty in 2004. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, Professor Combs was awarded the Thelen Marrin prize for graduating first in her class, and she served as an Articles Editor on the California Law Review. Professor Combs received her B.A., in philosophy, summa cum laude, from the University of Portland and her Ph.D. from Leiden University in December 2005. After law school, Professor Combs served as a law clerk to Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and to Justice Anthony Kennedy on the United States Supreme Court.

Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Combs served as legal advisor at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, The Netherlands. Since joining the faculty, she has written extensively on topics in international law and international criminal justice, publishing two books and dozens of articles and essays appearing in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review, the Hastings Law Journal, the Washington & Lee Law Review, the Arizona Law Review, the Harvard International Law Journal, the Yale Journal of International Law, the Virginia Journal of International Law, and the Chicago Journal of International Law, among others.

In 2022, Professor Combs received the 1L Professor of the Year Award from the Class of 2022. Professor Combs is a 2009 recipient of William and Mary's Alumni Award Fellowship Award for teaching excellence and a 2009 and 2016 recipient of the Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence. She has participated as an expert witness in international criminal trials in Norway, Sweden and The Netherlands, and she was a member of the International Expert Framework on International Criminal Procedure. She is currently on the Steering Board of Rethinking SLIC, a global research project that explores secondary liability for international crimes and serious human rights violations. Before attending university, Professor Combs owned and operated a chimney sweeping business.