It is my sincere pleasure to share with you a small bit of what I learned from Dr Denstedt. John is the consummate urological professional in everything he does. But don’t be fooled that this comes easy. No, I would argue that no one has ever worked harder, or accomplished anywhere near what John has since becoming Secretary of the AUA.

I first had the pleasure of getting to know John at the AUA Board of Directors Spring Meeting in February 2020. Yes, I previously knew of John, but professionally our paths never crossed as we practice in different disciplines of urology. We were in Santa Barbara together when the United States was up to 7 cases of COVID-19, and we discussed what impact we thought the virus may have on our lives. No one knew, but John stated that he thought the AUA must be prepared for all possibilities. Boy, if he only knew then what he knows now.

Over the next 3 years John has planned for the AUA Annual Meeting being completely in person, completely virtual, as well as a hybrid format. This was a tremendous amount of work that few people really can comprehend. He did this without complaining or moaning, and worked so well with his AUA staff that I cannot think of any other professional society that has weathered the COVID-19 crisis any better.

John also significantly changed and enlarged our AUA family of publications in numerous ways. The Journal of Urology^® has never been better, Urology Practice^® has grown in stature and reputation, and JU Open Plus is now up and running. Lastly, this publication. As Editor of AUANews, he has had its content tripled over the last 3 years, has doubled the number of issues per year from 12 to 24, and has transformed AUANews from not only a print publication, but to a digital format that will serve the global urological community into the future.

Finally, John is just a great human being, whom now I can call a great friend to me and my wife. He is a loving husband, supportive father, and is always willing to go the extra mile for his friends both at home and in the greater worldwide urological community. On a personal note, John and I one day spent an afternoon together waiting for our respective planes in an airport. We got to better know each other’s families, sports teams, hobbies, and our mutual cold weather stories due to our home locations. John took the time and effort to really try to get to know me, and it truly has enhanced my time and enjoyment of being on the AUA Board of Directors representing the North Central Section. We all have been very fortunate to have had John Denstedt be our AUA Secretary. GREAT JOB and THANK YOU!