University of Rochester v. Hartman

MOORE, Circuit Judge:

Over six years ago Professor Wolf V. Vishniac suffered a fatal fall in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica while conducting research. At the time of his death Professor Vishniac was a tenured faculty member at the University of Rochester (University), and a recognized expert in microbiology. He began receiving support for his basic research into the microbial ecology of planetary soils from the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) in 1961. NASA continued to fund his research up until the time of his death.

In furtherance of his microbiological research,…