Eileen V. Detka

Eileen V. Detka is chief of staff at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Appointed to the position in August 2023, she serves as an expert analyst to the center director, providing advice and guidance on center organization and management issues. In coordination with NASA Headquarters and NASA Armstrong’s organizational directors, she assists with the integration of center-wide and institutional strategies as well as supports center activities, including programmatic, research, mission support, and technical support functions. She also is responsible for coordinating center responses to agency boards and councils.

Experience

Prior to her current position, Detka was the deputy director for Policy and Compliance from September 2020 to August 2023 within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at NASA Headquarters. In October 2019, she was named NASA Armstrong’s acting chief financial officer after having served as deputy chief financial officer since January 2009.

Detka joined NASA Armstrong in 2003 as an operating accountant in the Financial Management Office. She was a member of the agency and center Integrated Financial Management Project team in 2003 and served as the lead standard general ledger accountant on the transition process team.

She held a staff accountant position at NASA Headquarters where she was the agency business process lead and principal point of contact for travel during NASA’s transition to the e-Travel system, FedTraveler. Detka also was a member of the agency’s transition team to the Concur Government Edition (CGE) travel system, and the lead accountant for planning, approving, and implementing the integrated and interfaced agency-wide financial systems for the NASA Integrated Enterprise Application Competency Center (Competency Center), and policy.

Before joining NASA, she was a staff accountant for the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she worked as part of a team to consolidate the Department of the Army Finance and Accounting Offices to the consolidated DFAS location in Indianapolis.

In addition, Detka assisted with the consolidation and redesign of the financial system from the Corps of Engineers to the Orlando DFAS operating location. She also held several other positions within the Department of the Navy.

Education and Honors

Detka has a Master of Business Administration from Indiana Wesleyan University, Indianapolis, Indiana, and bachelor’s degree in business administration from Indiana Institute of Technology.

She was a 2017 recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Achievement medal, and she received a Silver Achievement medal in 2019.