Eileen Barkas Hoffman, 78, passed away on April 16, 2026, at home in the presence of her family. Born at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on July 27, 1947, she was the daughter of William and Gladys Barkas and grew up in Bayside, Queens, NY. 

Eileen received her B.S. from Cornell University’s New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, her M.A. in political science from Columbia University, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She spent her junior year at the London School of Economics and Political Science. For 49 years, she was a mainstay of the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service, where, first and foremost, she was a Commissioner of Mediation—she mediated many disputes, settled many, trained many mediators, and won the respect of the industrial relations community. This was reflected in her activity in the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) of which she was a former president when it was the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR). Eileen was an adjunct professor and taught negotiation and alternative dispute resolution for more than 25 years at George Washington University’s National Law Center. She also taught at GWU’s Columbian graduate school, the University of Maryland, was Neutral-in-Residence at the ILR School at Cornell, and taught negotiations to Marines at Camp Pendleton. She was also Director of Research at the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission and performed research in international labor relations at The Conference Board. She travelled to more than 16 countries to train mediators and help with design of mediation services. At FMCS, Eileen was a District Director and General Counsel—she served in the latter capacity longer than any previous counsel—and spent seven months in London on an exchange with the British Advisory, Conciliation & Arbitration Service. She received the ILR School’s highest alumni honor, the Groat Award, and the FMCS Director’s Award. 

Eileen is survived by her husband, Richard Hoffman, to whom she was married for 55 years, her daughter, Vanessa (David), of San Marcos, CA, her sister Jan (Fred) Yager, and two grandsons, Ethan and Alexander. Her brother Seth (Karen) predeceased her. 

Funeral services will be held at Adas Israel Congregation, 2850 Quebec St., Washington, on Sunday, April 19, at 12:00 P.M. Interment will follow at Judean Memorial Gardens. Services entrusted to Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.