W. Jeffrey Sparks
B.S. Petroleum Engineering 1983
Chief Operating Officer, Discovery Operating Inc.
Jeff Sparks grew up in Midland before attending The University of Texas at Austin, where he graduated with his B.S. in petroleum engineering in 1983. After graduation, he returned to Midland where he and his wife, Val, raised their four children, Jarrod, Joshua, Justin and Kristina. They are proud grandparents to seven grandchildren and attend First Baptist Church of Midland, where Sparks has served as a junior high Sunday school leader for over 25 years and sings in the choir.
Sparks has been a registered professional engineer in Texas since February 1988 and is the Chief Operating Officer at Discovery Operating, Inc., a family-owned oil and gas business. He is the regional director of the Permian Basin region for the Independent Petroleum Association of America and an area VP for the Permian Basin Petroleum Association. He has served as the chairman of the Permian Basin Petroleum Pioneers organization, is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, has served on the External Advisory Committee for the Cockrell School’s Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and currently sits on the Cockrell School’s Engineering Advisory Board. In 2017, the Permian Basin chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers honored Sparks with their “Engineer of the Year” award.
Sparks is proud to be part of a legacy of professional engineers. His father, Don L. Sparks, has been a registered professional engineer in Texas since 1969, his son, Jarrod, has been a registered professional engineer in Texas since 2014, and his son, Joshua, received his seal in 2016. All four have earned their engineering degrees from UT Austin.