Whitney Wolfe Herd ’11

A tech disruptor with a mission to empower women, Whitney Wolfe Herd is the founder and CEO of Bumble. Bumble features three modes – Bumble Date, Bumble BFF for making friends and Bumble Bizz for networking – that put women in the driver’s seat when making social or business connections. Wolfe Herd’s strategic vision has guided the company’s growth to more than 65 million users in 150 countries and changed the way people connect online and off.

While Wolfe Herd was earning a B.A. in international studies at SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, her global outlook and enterprising spirit took root. As an SMU student, she launched two efforts in response to world problems she cared about – a clothing line to bring attention to fair trade and a line of sustainable grocery bags to benefit the Oceans Future Project after the BP 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. She now serves on the Dedman College Executive Board.

Before Bumble, Wolfe Herd co-founded the Tinder dating app and served as its vice president of marketing from 2012-14. She used that experience to form Bumble’s mission as a women-first platform grounded in positive online behavior. Since its release in December 2014, women have initiated contact with other users – made the first move – more than 1 billion times on Bumble.

The young entrepreneur’s achievements have earned major accolades. Wolfe Herd has been included twice in the Forbes’ 30 under 30 issue and has been named to the TIME 100 in 2018, Time magazine’s list of the world’s most influential people, and Business Insider’s 30 Most Important Women Under 30 in Tech. She serves on the board of Imagine Entertainment, the film and television production company founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard.