About

Robert Scott Smith is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Actor Training Program at the Department of Theatre, College of Fine Arts, University of Utah. His role involves leading the actor training initiatives within the department, contributing to the development of students' theatrical skills and education. As a master teacher and working professional, he brings a wealth of expertise and dedication to his teaching and mentorship. His work supports the department's mission to provide comprehensive theatre education and to foster the growth of future theatre practitioners.

Research topics

• Business
• Finance
• Economics
• Labour economics
• Public economics

Selected publications

• Should We Give Away the Annual Exclusion?

  Florida Tax Review · 2022

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Business
  • Economics
  • Labour economics

  United States gift tax law imposes on the transferor a tax at rates of up to fifty percent on property transfers made during the transferor's lifetime for less than full and adequate consideration in money or money's worth. The tax is calculated on the basis of the fair market value of the property transferred, determined as of the time of the gift. The gift tax is a supplement to the federal estate tax, which is imposed on transfers of property at death at rates up to fifty percent. If there were no gift tax, the estate tax could be substantially avoided by making lifetime gifts. Neither lifetime gifts nor testamentary bequests of property are subject to income tax in the hands of the transferor or the transferee.There are several exceptions to the gift tax, one of which is the annual exclusion. The annual exclusion permits an individual to make gifts of up to $10,000 a year to any number of persons without incurring any gift tax. The annual exclusion is available only if the donee is given a present right of possession or enjoyment as to the value with respect to which the exclusion is claimed. As is demonstrated below, the annual exclusion can be used, both directly and indirectly, to permit very large amounts to escape the federal transfer tax system. Yet, at the same time, the annual exclusion is not large enough to protect some types of transfers that should be protected from gift tax. In addition, as it is currently designed and used, the annual exclusion injects vertical inequity into the transfer tax system and contributes to horizontal inequity that exists in the system.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Geology of the Monte Cristo Area, Bear River Range, Utah

  Digital Commons - USU (Utah State University) · 2021-10-08 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The Monte Cristo area is a 7 1/2-minute quadrangle located in the southeastern. part of the Bear River Range, northern Utah. It is within the Middle Rocky Mountain province and is 10 miles east of the Basin and Range province. Previous to this investigation little was known about the detailed geology of the area except for a reconnaissance study and general geologic map of the Cache County part included in the Geologic Atlas of Utah, Cache County, published by Williams (1958). The purposes of this investigation were as follows: (1) to determine the formations present in the area and their relation to regional stratigraphy, (2) to determine the structure of the area and its relation to regional.structure, and (3). to produce a geologic map of the area (Plate 1).

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Estimating the economic costs of algal blooms in the Canadian Lake Erie Basin

  Harmful Algae · 2019-06-24 · 114 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Shallow Active-Source Seismic Imaging of Old Faithful Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.

  AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts · 2019-12-01

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• The 2017–2018 Maple Creek Earthquake Sequence in Yellowstone National Park, USA

  Geophysical Research Letters · 2019-05-01 · 18 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract We explore the detailed spatiotemporal evolution of 3,345 earthquakes that occurred near Maple Creek, Yellowstone, for the time period of 12 June 2017 to 13 March 2018. We generate high‐accuracy relocations and near source V P / V S ratios using 4.4 million P wave and S wave differential travel times derived from waveform cross correlation. The hypocenters can be subdivided geographically into two major subpopulations: a northern cluster with planar structures striking mainly NW‐SE and a southern cluster with planar structures striking mainly E‐W. We observe V P / V S ratios of 1.39–1.66 in the northern cluster and a steady ratio of 1.50 in the southern cluster, suggesting the presence of CO 2 ‐filled cracks. We interpret the northern earthquake cluster primarily as long‐lived aftershocks of the 1959 M w 7.2 Hebgen Lake earthquake but with some influence of magmatic fluids. We interpret the southern earthquake cluster as a more classic, swarm‐like sequence induced primarily by the migration of magmatic fluids.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The relationship between collisions and skid resistance on the Strategic Road Network

  2018-02-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• SUBSURFACE SEISMIC IMAGING OF THE YELLOWSTONE UPPER GEYSER BASIN HYDROTHERMAL SYSTEM

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2017-01-01

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The 2017 Maple Creek Seismic Swarm in Yellowstone National Park

  AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts · 2017-12-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• Reversible and Irreversible Mountain Wave Momentum Deposition

  AGUFM · 2017-12-01

  articleSenior author
  Publisher

• Anatomy of Old Faithful From Subsurface Seismic Imaging of the Yellowstone Upper Geyser Basin

  Geophysical Research Letters · 2017-10-03 · 63 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract The Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park contains one of the highest concentrations of hydrothermal features on Earth including the iconic Old Faithful geyser. Although this system has been the focus of many geological, geochemical, and geophysical studies for decades, the shallow (<200 m) subsurface structure remains poorly characterized. To investigate the detailed subsurface geologic structure including the hydrothermal plumbing of the Upper Geyser Basin, we deployed an array of densely spaced three‐component nodal seismographs in November of 2015. In this study, we extract Rayleigh wave seismic signals between 1 and 10 Hz utilizing nondiffusive seismic waves excited by nearby active hydrothermal features with the following results: (1) imaging the shallow subsurface structure by utilizing stationary hydrothermal activity as a seismic source, (2) characterizing how local geologic conditions control the formation and location of the Old Faithful hydrothermal system, and (3) resolving a relatively shallow (10–60 m) and large reservoir located ~100 m southwest of Old Faithful geyser.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• C. M. Puskas

  44 shared

• Jamie Farrell

  32 shared

• G. P. Waite

  Michigan Technological University

  24 shared

• L. W. Braile

  Purdue University System

  17 shared

• C. M. Meertens

  Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

  14 shared

• Wu‐Lung Chang

  National Central University

  14 shared

• J. Farrell

  Memorial University of Newfoundland

  12 shared

• S. Husen

  12 shared