Joe Griffin Eisley
Joe Griffin Eisley, age 92, died Wednesday, December 30, 2020, at Silver Maples of Chelsea Retirement Neighborhood. He was born on April 7, 1928, in Auglaize County, Ohio, the son of Harold Samuel and Velma Ruth (Griffin) Eisley. After graduating from Spencerville (Ohio) High School in 1946, he joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Daegu, South Korea. In 1948, he entered Parks College, St. Louis University, going on to receive his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees from the California Institute of Technology. In 1956, he married Marilyn Fleck in Pasadena, California, and they moved to Ann Arbor where he began a 42-year career as a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan. In addition to his teaching duties, he spent 14 years as an Associate Dean in the College of Engineering. During this time, he was involved in revising the engineering curriculum and in developing programs to encourage women and minorities to study engineering. His proudest accomplishment at the university, however, was to see so many of his former students succeed in their engineering careers.