On 22 January 2026, a celebration was held at Palazzo Gnudi in Bologna, Italy, to honour the career of Federico Ferrini on the occasion of his retirement, following the completion of his almost eight-year tenure as CTAO Managing Director (2018–2025). The event brought together members of the CTAO Central Organisation and colleagues from different stages of Federico’s professional journey, who delivered speeches reflecting on his leadership, contributions, and lasting impact on the project and the astrophysics community.

Federico joined the CTAO as Managing Director in March 2018. During his tenure, he provided critical leadership and direction to the development of the CTAO as an observatory, overseeing the first phases of the establishment of the CTAO ERIC and many major milestones that laid the foundation for its future success. As he steps away from the CTAO ERIC, we would like to extend our sincere thanks for all of his contributions to the Observatory and the field.

We wish him all the best in this new chapter!