Deborah Scott Thomas

, Alabama. She graduated from Alabama State University (ASU) with a bachelor of science in accounting and management in 1974. She received her United States Air Force commission as a second lieutenant from ASU's Detachment 019 in 1975. She earned a master's in public administration in 1977 from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Ms. Thomas retired as a colonel from the United States Air Force Reserve, having served her country for three decades. She has worked for Fortune 100 companies as well as small businesses. She is a recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including: the U.S. Minority Business Development Agency's National Abe Venable Legacy Award for Lifetime Achievement award; the Black Engineer of the Year (BEYA) STEM Trailblazers award; the Greater Baltimore Committee’s Bridging the Gap Achievement Award; the National Black Coalition of Federal Aviation Employees (NBCFAE) Eleanor J. Williams Bronze Eagle Award; the MEA Magazine’s 50 Women of Power in Business; the Legacy of Leadership Award from Spelman College; the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Center for HBCU Media Advocacy, Inc; and the Distinguished Hornet Entrepreneurial Award from the ASU National Alumni Association, Inc. Philadelphia Chapter. She was also the first recipient of the Silhouette of Service Award from ASU’s College of Business Administration and she was named one of The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in 2011. Ms. Thomas is married to Oatice Thomas, president and CEO of Operations & Technology Incorporated, and has three sons: William Scott, Darius Thomas and Duncan Thomas. The fifth of seven children, Ms. Thomas has three brothers: Willie Fred, Jim Lamar and Charles Jefferson Duncan; and three sisters: Mary D. Stallworth, Ida D. Sankey and Cassandra D. Duncan. Her mother, Mrs. Mary Ann Duncan resides in Montgomery, Alabama.

Her overall combination of ongoing education, significant training, extensive business background, personal high standard of ethics and limitless enthusiasm forms the cornerstone of DST and its winning formula for “Developing Solutions for Tomorrow.”