Viper Energy (NASDAQ: VNOM) has appointed John Grotzinger to its board of directors, expanding the board from eight to nine members, according to a company statement.

The appointment took effect September 15, 2026. Dr. Grotzinger will serve until the company's 2027 annual stockholder meeting. He has not been assigned to any board committee.

Dr. Grotzinger holds the Harold Brown Professor of Geology chair at the California Institute of Technology, a position he has held since 2021. He has more than 40 years of experience in geology, geobiology, and planetary science, and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

He previously served as Division Chair of Geological and Planetary Sciences at Caltech from 2014 to 2024 and as Chief Scientist of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover mission from 2007 to 2014. He has also served on the advisory board of Halliburton Labs since 2020 and on the Shell Science Advisory Board from 2014 to 2019.

As a non-employee director, Dr. Grotzinger will be compensated under the company's standard non-employee director compensation program and will receive a pro-rated restricted stock unit award for his partial year of service.