Joe Greenslade died October 23.

Greenslade was highly respected in the fastener industry. He began his 45-year fastener career in 1970 working for various fastener manufacturers, including CAMCAR-Textron and Rockford Headed Products, before founding Greenslade and Company, a designer and manufacturer of dimensional measuring devices and a calibration laboratory, in 1978.

He sold the company in 2007 and began working as technical director for the Industrial Fasteners Institute, a position he called his “dream job.” Greenslade retired from IFI in 2015 when Salim Brahimi took over as technical director. He remained a special consultant to IFI, maintaining the upkeep of the IFI Technology Connection software that he had developed.

In 2016, Greenslade, who held a BA in business management from Texas A&M University, was given the IFI Soaring Eagle Service Award for outstanding time and effort in leadership of the IFI and / or contributions to the health and well-being of the fastener industry. 

That same year, he received the Fred F. Weingruber Award from ASTM International Committee F16 on Fasteners. An ASTM member since 1994, Greenslade worked on multiple F16 subcommittees, as well as on Committee B08 on Metallic and Inorganic Coatings.

Outside ASTM, Greenslade was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Industrial Fasteners Institute, the International Organization for Standardization, and the Research Council on Structural Connections and SAE International.

Greenslade authored more than 200 trade journal articles and served on ASME B1 and B18, ASTM F16 and SAE fastener committees. He was a member of the Public Law Task Force for the U.S. Fastener Quality Act and the Screw Thread Conformance Task Force for the revision of aerospace thread design and thread gaging practices for the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Defense. He was also an A2LA board member.

Greenslade held 12 U.S. patents on fastener-related products and was a member of the NIFS Hall of Fame. 

He is survived by his wife Lillian; son Joseph Jr.; daughter Heather; step-daughter Jennifer Vance; and grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Joe’s project at Paschal High School, www.paschalpantherhero.org.