For Debbie Simmons, née Balaban (Questrom’80), numbers and equations were comfortable and familiar, so earning a BU degree in accounting made perfect sense. Now she’s helping other BU women succeed in the field too.

To honor the financial assistance she received as a student, Simmons has established a scholarship of her own, the Debra A. Simmons Scholarship, aimed squarely at women seeking degrees in accounting from Questrom. The need-based award has been given to women students for the past three years. Simmons says she created the scholarship in part to help young women focus on their studies without having to worry about how to pay for their education.

Simmons grew interested in accounting as a teenager when she worked with her bookkeeper mom and found that accounting rules and regulations often led to interesting learning experiences.

Today, Simmons specializes in tax accounting. “Because of all the tax rule changes in the past few years, the learning curve has been steep,” she says. “You have to know both the old and new tax laws and be willing to do a lot of research. I’m learning all the time.”

Simmons is at her desk for up to 14 hours most days during tax season including weekends. She loves working with her clients whom she knows as “real people, with real jobs, kids, and households to manage.” They, meanwhile, know her as hard-working, funny, and caring. If she even hints at retiring, she says, they panic.

How did she become a successful small-business owner with this host of loyal clients? By first working at two of the old “Big Eight” accounting firms (Arthur Andersen and Peat Marwick). They didn’t hold her interest so she began migrating to smaller firms and taking on a few private clients of her own. After a decade, the benefits of a solo practice beckoned and she opened her own firm with a clientele that eventually peaked at some 350 individuals and businesses. (She’s cutting back a bit now.)

Despite the pace, Simmons does have time for others. Years ago, she and her sister started a program assisting families in need over the holidays. They bought gifts all year round, wrapped them (as many as 1,000 a year) and then assembled a caravan of helpers to deliver them at Christmas. She continues this program today. Debbie knows what giving means.

“The feeling of benefiting from someone’s generosity never leaves you,” Simmons says. “It’s a pleasure to be able to help other women feel it too.”