Through early and ongoing investments in the Human Factor Speaker Series, history alumnus Charles Gaddy is elevating the visibility of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS), amplifying its branding efforts, and inspiring future philanthropic support for its mission and programs. 

The Human Factor Speaker Series, launched in 2025, explores human-centered solutions to society’s most pressing challenges. For Gaddy, it is also a platform to showcase both the impact of the humanities and social sciences outside the classroom and the value of a CHASS degree.

“I always felt the college was a diamond in the rough within the university, offering a top-notch education,” said the 1993 graduate, who grew up in Wilmington and now lives in Raleigh with his wife and three children. Gaddy’s financial commitments to CHASS ($500,000 to date, with additional gifts planned) stem from that long-standing belief and his desire to elevate the college’s profile.

Gaddy views the series as a reflection of the CHASS mission: to hold a mirror up to society and challenge people to act on what they see.

He also said CHASS deserves a signature event that highlights its influence in the same way other colleges on campus hold celebrations of their work.

“At its core, the Human Factor Speaker Series reflects our college’s enduring commitment to bringing human perspectives to the complex issues shaping our future,” said Dean Deanna Dannels. “Through Charles Gaddy’s financial  generosity to CHASS, we can broaden the reach of those conversations while reinforcing the importance of the humanities and social sciences in preparing students to lead, collaborate and create meaningful change.”  

Gaddy said a humanities and social sciences education excels at fostering emotional intelligence, an ethical mindset and versatility, traits increasingly vital in today’s business world. He added that CHASS also provides students with an essential, lifelong skill set. 

“The biggest thing undergraduate students learn in college is how to learn,” Gaddy said. “And the humanities and social sciences expose students to numerous ways to achieve the goal.”

That perspective shaped Gaddy’s path at NC State, where he majored in history and minored in computer programming. He recalled influential history professors who emphasized the human side of history and treated it as something alive and connected to people and society. He was especially interested in Chinese history from 1644 to 1940 and eventually combined that passion with a focus on technology.

For his honors thesis, Gaddy created a computer simulation of a traditional Chinese court based on the Qing Dynasty’s legal system and wrote a thesis about it. Software is a tool that requires human insight and interaction as much as technology itself to be truly effective,  he noted.

Gaddy said his career path was anything but conventional. As a history major, he initially envisioned a traditional route toward diplomacy or intelligence work at the CIA before realizing that his interests and skills were pulling him toward technology. After graduating, he worked at IBM and First Citizens Bank, later doing consulting work and serving as vice president of products for a Raleigh-based startup.

In 2011, he co-founded Global Data Consortium, which became a worldwide leader in digital identity verification. Gaddy and his partner sold the company in 2022 to the London Stock Exchange Group. Currently,  he is the founder and managing partner of Four Light Ventures (4LV), a Raleigh-based investment company.

“My degree helped me develop the skills needed for critical thinking, logical reasoning, decision-making and communication to succeed,” Gaddy said. “I was lucky, too.”

Those experiences reinforced his conviction that humanities and social sciences graduates bring unique and valuable perspectives to businesses, especially as artificial intelligence continues to reshape how people live and work. He sees AI as strengthening the reach of the humanities and social sciences and deepening collaboration across disciplines.

Gaddy noted that while technology processes information, it is people, from storytellers to historians and anthropologists, who provide the emotional intelligence and ethical inquiry necessary to define true meaning.

Gaddy noted that while technology processes information, it is people, from storytellers to historians and anthropologists, who provide the emotional intelligence and ethical inquiry necessary to define true meaning. 

In many ways, Gaddy  —  the initial donor and champion for the Human Factor Speaker Series  —  views the series as a reflection of the CHASS mission: to hold a mirror up to society and challenge people to act on what they see.

“What excites me about the series is that it focuses on real-world examples, emotional intelligence and the future,” Gaddy said. “And in doing so, it sparks dialogue, insights and questions.”

The inaugural Human Factor event featuring Alton Brown “knocked it out of the park,” he said, noting that it drew a sold-out crowd. Over time, he believes the series’ gravitas and prominence will continue to grow.

“I hope the series will have a snowball effect and ultimately provide a good outward message of what prospective students will learn in CHASS and prompt them to want to attend the college,” he said. “And other supporters will be compelled to say, ‘I love what they do at CHASS and want to participate and do more.’”

Today, Gaddy describes himself as “an investor, founder, tinkerer and thinker who enjoys working on interesting things, investing in interesting people and ideas, and trying to improve things.” Through his investment in the Human Factor Speaker Series, he adds “doer” to that list, helping CHASS shape conversations about what it means to be human and how human- centered thinking can build a better future.