On 26 July, a group of FABI staff and close friends gathered in FABI Square for a dinner event to bid farewell to Prof. Anne Pringle and David Johnson, who will soon return home to the United States. Anne, who is a Professor in the Departments of Botany and Bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spent a 12-month sabbatical at the Institute, funded by a grant from the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Programme.  During their time at FABI, Anne and David contributed deeply to many of the Institute’s activities, for example providing mentorship to students and young faculty members and being significantly involved in meetings such as one on Biological Invasions supported by the USA National Science Foundation. Prof Mike Wingfield, founding Director of FABI, who together with FABI director Prof. Bernard Slippers and Prof. Brenda Wingfield, acted as Anne and David’s main hosts, thanked them for the many contributions to FABI during the past year and especially their positive impact on many FABI people and the institute’s culture He emphasized the fact that the relationship established during their sabbatical were strong and would continue far into the future, with many planned research collaborations and more.