With this issue of Fertility and Sterility, we mark the retirement of Alan H. DeCherney, M.D., Editor-in-Chief from 1997 to 2011. Dr. DeCherney has been the consummate editor, mentor, leader, educator, and physician scientist who has impacted Reproductive Medicine in ways that provide important lessons to all of us in this field. Alan serves as a role model to us all. He contributes to and advances our field on a daily basis; if only we all had his stamina, determination and commitment to excellence, advances in our field could be realized at a pace far exceeding that occurring today. Alan has been a “hands-on” Editor, intimately and continuously involved with the day-to-day management of the Journal, leading it to new heights during his tenure. Among his major innovations have been the modernization of the appearance of the Journal, with its changing cover designs, liberal use of color, and sleek and “downloadable” tables; the introduction of insightful editorials and a challenging “Controversies” section; and the use of technological advances (largely unseen by readers) but including monthly commentaries on the Internet on the contents of the Journal. He has always maintained that the Journal should be intellectually challenging while providing a forum through which young clinicians and investigators might advance their careers. His service to ASRM has also been immeasurable. He was President of ASRM (1994-1995), as well as President of the affiliates SART, SREI, and SRS, and has actively participated in ASRM Board meetings for over 20 years. Alan was one of the Founding Members of SART and was among the leaders of the effort to develop the SART registry. As President of SREI, he was instrumental in establishing the fellowship match. Alan is currently the Chief of the Reproductive Biology and Medicine Branch (RBMB) and Director of the Program in Reproductive and Adult Endocrinology (PRE) in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. Indeed, the hospital and department responsibilities listed in his curriculum vitae, including serving as Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Tufts University School of Medicine from 1991 to 1996 and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA from 1996 to 2002, span pages and pages and attest to his tireless contributions to our field. Throughout this time, his commitment to the advancement of Reproductive Medicine has never waivered and he has impacted the lives and successes of untold trainees and physicians on a daily basis. Indeed, his curriculum vitae lists more than 360 original published articles, documenting his personal clinical and scientific contributions. Alan opened the fifth successful IVF program in the United States two years after Norfolk’s success and just four years after the birth of Elizabeth Brown. He was among the first to recognize the importance of in vitro fertilization to the field of reproductive medicine, just as he was prescient in determining that endoscopic surgery would usher in a new era in gynecology. He was one of the early endoscopists in this country. These significant individual contributions pale beside the impact he has had on our field and its literature. Always an advocate for the young investigator and committed to the publication of groundbreaking manuscripts, he advanced the Journal to become the preeminent journal in our field, recognized throughout the world for its impact. In this way, Alan impacted not only the field in general, but advanced the individual career paths of the authors of the manuscripts, as promotions and successes in academic medicine for new investigators are closely tied to publication history. Alan has been forward thinking in his emphasis on global reproductive medicine with the initiation and successes of Indian, Chinese and South American versions of Fertility and Sterility, years before “global medicine” became a priority. His innovations have provided the framework for our Journal in its current form and the platform upon which our new editors will build their new vision of Fertility and Sterility. However, reviewing his accomplishments is inadequate to describe Alan DeCherney. His positive leadership style is laced with wit and charm. He has the unique ability to look at the world and himself with self-effacing humor—as all of us who interact with him know well. While we acknowledge and thank Alan sincerely for his enormous contributions to the ASRM, to the field of Reproductive Medicine and to the recent successes of Fertility and Sterility, we look to the future with expectation, as we realize that Alan’s indefatigable energies will soon be focused in new and different directions, but the outcome will remain the same: Reproductive Medicine will continue to benefit from the tireless commitment and contributions of Alan DeCherney, M.D. The entire field of Reproductive Medicine and ASRM in particular will always be extremely grateful to this dedicated and caring individual.