2023-Aug-15: The members of the VERITAS Collaboration were very saddened by the news that our friend and long-time colleague John Finley passed away on the 16th of July 2023.  John was an insightful scientist who made hugely significant contributions to the Whipple telescope, an effort which allowed for the discovery of the first VHE sources.  Before his work on Whipple, he contributed to the Haleakala gamma-ray observatory.

John was one of the founders of VERITAS and was a key contributor to the VERITAS proposals and construction of the instrument.  He fought in the trenches as the chair of the VERITAS Executive Committee during a critical time, navigating the intricacies of startup and helping to bring VERITAS into operation under challenging circumstances.  

John was wise and incredibly patient, an inspirational scientist and a wonderful person.   His good humour and sense of fun meant that it was always such a pleasure to work with him.  He always had so much enthusiasm in what he did and was so supportive of the work of his colleagues and students.  Many of his past students note his support as a significant source of motivation for remaining in the field. 

The VERITAS Collaboration sends their condolences to all of John’s family, friends and colleagues.

An obituary for John can be found here (https://soller-baker.com/obituary/john-p-finley/).