As we approach the 2023 AUA Annual Meeting, the capstone of Dr John Denstedt’s term as AUA Secretary, it is an excellent time to reflect on Dr Denstedt’s contributions to the AUA and the urology community, and give personal gratitude to him.

Those who know Dr Denstedt are aware of his incredible stamina and resiliency to travel all over the world and juggle multiple projects at the same time in advancing urological education and patient care. Assuming the AUA Secretary position in May 2019, Dr Denstedt would be tested like no other AUA Secretary. In March 2020 the world changed dramatically in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving to an endemic over the next 3 years.

The fully planned AUA2020 Annual Meeting was canceled, and within weeks Dr Denstedt was already planning a new virtual 2020 Annual Meeting program, leading and working with staff and faculty to provide the world with urological and pandemic education “AUA Live” in less than 3 months. Again, he planned for an in-person Annual Meeting for May 2021, which was moved to September 2021 in Las Vegas, and ultimately had to convert the September 2021 Annual Meeting to a fully virtual meeting in less than 30 days, while at the same time planning for AUA2022 New Orleans just 8 months later. In May 2022, Dr Denstedt led an incredible team of faculty and staff in implementing the first AUA hybrid (in-person and virtual) Annual Meeting with great educational and networking success! And here we are, weeks away from the Chicago 2023 hybrid Annual Meeting, where Dr Denstedt will have planned for 6 AUA Annual Meetings in 4 years—a tribute to not only Dr John Denstedt’s resiliency, but his poise and leadership ability to rally a team around a common cause to advance urology and our community.

Earlier I mentioned “juggle multiple projects.” As if treating patients during the pandemic and planning AUA Annual Meetings were not enough, Dr Denstedt also advanced the AUA and urology by advancing AUA’s global education plan, enhancing AUANews, and engaging membership through the Section Secretaries Membership Council and the International Membership Committee. In 2021, as the world continued to be restricted from travel due to COVID-19 variants, Dr Denstedt coordinated over 35 virtual international society leadership meetings and 116 virtual speakers for international urological society meetings. He expanded and enhanced AUANews with the timely Diversity & Inclusion Special Issue in 2021, which is now an annual Special Issue. He led and worked with the Editorial team to grow the number of annual articles from 224 (2019) to 593 (2022) and developed a microsite website and special online mid-month issues, culminating in AUANews being one of the most read publications in urology.

I personally have witnessed and learned from Dr Denstedt throughout his term as Secretary. His calmness in dealing with challenges and always looking at the perspectives of all constituencies involved in seeking resolutions should be embodied by all leaders. Dr Denstedt, Thank You for your inspirational leadership, your friendship, and your enormous contributions to the AUA and the urology community!