Thomas D. Spalding, Vice President–Geoscience for Pioneer Natural Resources, was born in Muskegon, Michigan, in 1958 and grew up in Louisville, Ky. He attended Westport High School, played on the football team, and graduated in 1976. He attended the University of Kentucky and was a Resident Advisor in Hagen Hall from 1978 to 1980.

He received his Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1980 and Master of Science in Geology in 1982. While at the UK Geology Department, he received the undergraduate Pirtle award and the award for outstanding student at the UK summer field camp course. While a graduate student, Spalding received the outstanding Teaching Assistant Award and served as president of the UK student chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, the national honor society for geosciences.

Spalding began his career in petroleum geoscience at Mobil in Dallas, Texas, in 1982. While at Mobil, he worked as an exploration and production geoscientist for domestic divisions in Dallas, Houston, and New Orleans. He completed his Mobil career working six years in their international division with emphasis on West Africa exploration.

He came to Pioneer Natural Resources in 1997, first working in international exploration and later serving as Offshore Gulf of Mexico Exploration Manager in 1998, Vice President–North America Exploration in 2004, Vice President–Geoscience Technology in 2010, and Vice President–Permian Subsurface in 2011. Since 2015, Spalding has held the position of Vice President–Geoscience, providing oversight for geoscience across Pioneer and managing subsurface geoscience and reservoir engineering integration. He has been a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists since 1981, and current or past member of the Dallas Geological Society, Houston Geological Society, and New Orleans Geological Society.

Spalding has served on the Alumni Advisory Board for the University of Kentucky Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (EES) since 2004 and received their Distinguished Geology Alumnus Award in 2014. He has been recruiting at UK for the past 13 years and has hired 10 graduates from the UK EES department at Pioneer.

Spalding met his wife of 36 years, Linda Butcher Spalding, at UK, and they both still “bleed blue.” Tom and Linda have five daughters, Jennifer Spalding, Katelin Nickoli, Hannah Spalding, Rachel McCann, and Emma Spalding. They currently reside in Grapevine, Texas, and also have a home in Franklin, Tenn.