Consensus is always difficult. Even in the setting of level I evidence, competing interpretations, experiences and interests present challenges to the best-intentioned analyses. Consensus requires commitment to the process, time, a spirit of collaboration and, above all, leadership. For many, Andy Novick’s career was both the quintessence of leadership and the embodiment of the best in academic urology. Andy’s clinical and intellectual contributions in the fields of kidney transplantation and renovascular surgery provided the underpinning upon which surgical and functional renal preservation in cases of kidney cancer is based. He brought forward many of the concepts and techniques for nephron-sparing surgery. Perhaps most importantly, Andy facilitated the recognition that.
