David Roth (plaintiff) was hired as an assistant professor of political science at Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh for a one-year fixed term. At the end of the year, Roth was not hired for an additional term. The President of the University informed Roth that he would not be rehired but gave him no reason for the decision and no opportunity to challenge the decision at a hearing. Under Wisconsin law, a state-university employee could acquire tenure rights to employment after four years of consecutive year-to-year employment. However, without tenure, relatively new teachers had no right to employment beyond their initial one-year appointment. Roth brought suit against the Board of Regents of Wisconsin State University-Oshkosh (defendant) in district court claiming, among other things, that the failure to give him notice of the University's reasons for not rehiring him and the opportunity for a hearing violated his right to procedural due process. The district court granted summary judgment for Roth on the procedural-due-process issue, and the appellate court affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.