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DALLAS () – Brady Wood, seasoned entrepreneur and CEO of WoodHouse, will be the featured speaker at ¾«¶«´«Ã½’s December Commencement Convocation on Saturday, December 20. The ceremony, scheduled for 10 a.m. at Moody Coliseum, will be streamed live at smu.edu/live.

With more than three decades of experience in restaurant, entertainment and real estate development, Brady Wood has founded and led a wide range of start-up and institutional investment ventures. Through his creative concept development firm, WoodHouse, he has built a portfolio of high-impact projects spanning private members’ clubs, hotels, restaurants, luxury branded cafés, music festivals and a ski resort.

WoodHouse’s current projects include Park House, the Dallas-based private social club that expanded to Houston; Café Dior in Highland Park Village; José, the award-winning chef-driven Mexican restaurant in Dallas; Banner House at T Bar M Racquet Club, a members social and athletic club in Dallas; The Moore Miami, a landmark members’ club and hotel in the Miami Design District; Citizen House, a private members’ club and hotel in Oklahoma City; Elevation Hotel and Spa in Crested Butte, Colorado; and the Pilgrimage Music and Cultural Festival in Franklin, Tennessee.

Entrepreneurial spirit as an ¾«¶«´«Ã½ undergraduate

In 1988, at just 20 years old and while still an undergraduate at ¾«¶«´«Ã½, Wood co-founded two landmark establishments near campus — The Rhythm Room and The Green Elephant — marking the beginning of his entrepreneurial career in hospitality. Wood sold both ventures in the ’90s.

Those investments yielded five more restaurants, three live music venues, one drive-in theater, three music festivals, a record label and a retail store. Then, in 2003, he founded INCAP Fund, a $250 million real estate investment firm backed by JP Morgan, which developed some of the largest land assemblages in both Dallas and Fort Worth.  In 2013, Wood founded WoodHouse, which currently owns and operates eleven ventures with more under development. Wood is married with two children. 

“Brady Wood exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that defines so many of our ¾«¶«´«Ã½ students and alumni,” said ¾«¶«´«Ã½ President Jay Hartzell. “From launching his first venture as an undergraduate here on the Hilltop to building a career that has shaped entertainment, real estate and hospitality across the country, he shows what’s possible when creativity meets courage. We are honored to welcome him back to campus to share his story with our graduates as they prepare to embark on their own bold journeys.”