Dr. Ron Bruch has been inspirational and a leader for the formation and development of the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society. The idea to create a North American Chapter was spawned by Ron and a Canadian colleague, Tim Haxton, in 2008. As a result of his hard work, on August 19, 2008, the foundation committee members which included Tim Haxton, Dave Lane, Ken Sulak, Ed Black, Boyd Kynard, Larry Hildebrand, Peter Allen and Stephan Peake had their inaugural meeting in Ottawa, Canada along with Harald Rosenthal, the WSCS president, to kick off the society. This was done in conjunction with a well-attended symposium on sturgeon at the AFS conference. Over 150 members enrolled the first year primarily as a result of the kick-off in Ottawa. This initiated annual conferences alternating between private venues and ‘piggy backing’ with AFS. Ron was instrumental with the sturgeon symposium the following year at AFS in Nashville that culminated in 2½ days of talks, making sturgeon one of the most represented species at the conference. The third annual conference was held at Chico Hot Springs, Montana representing NAC’s first solo conference, and was attended by 140 people with 40 oral presentations. The Montana conference spawned a lot of interest in the society, however, it identified several cracks in remaining a North American Chapter, primarily around legal issues with the society’s by-laws. Ron was successful at the meeting to initiate a movement to become an independent society while remaining closely linked with the World Sturgeon Conservation Society. After a year of hard work by Ron and the executive committee, the North American Sturgeon and Paddlefish Society was established at the Nanaimo, BC conference in 2011. The NASPS became an affiliate of the World Sturgeon Conservation Society as it represented many of their values, but became a distinct, independent society. The NASPS met again in 2012 at AFS in St. Paul where Ron’s position as president was validated by the society’s first election. Under Ron’s leadership, NASPS continued a great relationship with WSCS and were very instrumental in the success of the 7th International Symposium on Sturgeon, a WSCS sanctioned conference, held in 2013 in Nanaimo, BC. This represented the first time NASPS executive board members had a chance to meet with WSCS board members solidifying their relationship and charted a course for sturgeon protection globally. His vision and efforts were instrumental in the formation and success of the NASPS for which the society will be forever indebted.