Frisco High Graduate
Strikes It Big in Oil and
Gas Industry
Frisco ISD graduates are making an impact throughout the
world. This feature on Mark Hiduke, Class of 2005, is the first in
a series highlighting the accomplishments of former students.
F
risco High School alumnus Mark
Hiduke left high school for Southern
Methodist University pretty sure he
wanted to go into investment banking
and finance – which meant either even-
tually heading for New York or digging
into the oil and gas investment industry
right at home in Dallas. But then he fell
in love – with oil and gas exploration and
everything from drill bits to the world of
horizontal wells.
Hiduke spent several years working
for Pioneer Natural Resources before
striking out with his own team to form
an exploration and production company
in 2014. That company sold in 2016 and
he is now on to a second company based
in downtown Dallas.
Hiduke, chief executive officer of
PCORE Exploration and Production II,
has seen impressive successes in the
12 years since he graduated from FHS,
where he played football under then
Coach Ronnie Mullins and the guitar in
a band with friends.
Graduating 13th in the Class of 2005,
Hiduke received a Frisco Education
Foundation scholarship from the Frisco
High School Football Booster Club. He
also got a substantial scholarship to
SMU based on his academic credentials.
Heading off to a prestigious university
was the first step in his quick rise in the
oil and gas exploration industry.
PCORE I sold for a substantial profit,
even at a time when oil prices were falling.
PCORE II is now in a $200 million partner-
ship with Natural Gas Partners and works
to develop core unconventional oil pros-
pects in the Permian Basin of West Texas.
Hiduke says his success didn’t come
easy.
“It took a lot of luck, but it is also a
dedication to our principals,” he said. “We
will only acquire and develop core of core
assets.”
Hiduke grew up in Frisco and attend-
ed Staley Middle School, Clark Middle
School and Frisco High School. His par-
ents, Drew and Marlene Hiduke, still call
Frisco home.
So what did he bring with him from his
days in Frisco schools to one of Dallas’s
most successful young CEOs? He credits
the rigor of Advanced Placement class-
es he took in high school, as well as the
values he learned on the football field –
such as grit, a competitive spirit and the
importance of teamwork.
“I had to learn to manage my time and
understand priorities,” he said.
Those skills have served him well. n
Are you an FISD
Alumni?
Please contact FISD
Alumni Services at
[email protected].
Mark Hiduke has been
recognized among the top 30
individuals under age 40 by Oil
and Gas Investor magazine.
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