Bernard Greenberg was a ground-breaking scientist in the worlds of medical-veterinary and forensic entomology, studying the ability of flies to serve as a vector of human and other vertebrate pathogens. His work also extended beyond these topics, creating key studies on flies and their associated microbial ecology.These efforts led to numerous research publications and two books on flies and their associated microorganisms. Greenberg served a pioneering role in establishing the field of forensic entomology in the USA later in his career, publishing key papers and a book that are highly cited to this day. We present a review of Dr Greenberg's scientific contributions concerning flies and disease, insect/microbe interactions, and insects as forensic indicators.