Robert Alan Smith

Age: 45

Summary: associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa who had published more than 30 scientific articles in professional journals and was an internationally recognized expert in the field of space plasma theory, who was a research college of University of Iowa physics professor Christoph K. Goertz, with whom he had recently formed a theoretical space research group in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, whose research interests ranged from thermonuclear to space or astrophysical plasma physics.

Cause of Death: Homicide by gunshot

Born: March 8, 1946

Died: November 1, 1991

Location: Iowa City, Iowa