Every time you check your phone for directions, track a package, or even monitor your morning run, you’re using technology that owes its precision to Dr. Gladys West.
A mathematician whose groundbreaking work laid the foundation for the Global Positioning System (GPS), West’s contributions remained largely unrecognized for decades.
But her impact on modern navigation is undeniable.
From Rural Virginia to Mathematical Excellence
Born in 1930 in Sutherland, Virginia, Gladys Mae Brown grew up in a community where opportunities for Black girls were few.
Her parents owned a small farm, and many of her peers spent their lives working in tobacco fields. But West had her sights set on something bigger.
Excelling in school, she graduated as valedictorian of her class, earning a full scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), a historically Black institution.
In 1952, she graduated with a degree in mathematics—a field where Black women were almost entirely absent at the time. After teaching in segregated schools and repeatedly losing job opportunities to less-qualified white men, West pressed forward. She returned to Virginia State for a master’s degree in mathematics, which she earned in 1955.
Breaking Barriers at the U.S. Naval Proving Ground
The turning point in West’s career came in 1956 when she was hired as a mathematician at the U.S. Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia. She was only the fourth Black employee at the base. There, she met fellow mathematician Ira West, whom she later married.
At Dahlgren, West quickly became known for her ability to solve complex mathematical equations by hand. But as technology advanced, so did she. Transitioning from manual calculations to programming early computers, she worked on the Naval Ordinance Research Calculator (NORC), a program that mapped the movement of Pluto and Neptune.
Her most significant work, however, came in the late 1970s and ’80s when she led key projects that revolutionized satellite technology.
Laying the Foundation for GPS
As project manager for Seasat, the first satellite designed to monitor Earth’s oceans, West helped develop computer models that could predict wave heights, currents, and coastal conditions. This project led directly to GEOSAT, a satellite that helped create an incredibly precise model of Earth’s shape—a critical component of what would become GPS.
West and her team developed algorithms that accounted for gravitational forces, tides, and other factors affecting satellite orbits. These calculations allowed GPS technology to pinpoint locations on Earth with incredible accuracy. Her contributions, as detailed by Encyclopedia Britannica, were instrumental in shaping the navigation systems we rely on today.
Recognition for a ‘Hidden Figure’
For much of her career, West worked in relative obscurity, much like NASA’s Hidden Figures—Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. It wasn’t until 2018 that her role in GPS development received widespread recognition. That year, she was honored by the Virginia General Assembly, inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame, and named one of the BBC’s 100 Women of the Year.
Even in retirement, West never stopped learning. After suffering a stroke, she pushed herself through recovery and earned a Ph.D. in public administration at age 70.
A Legacy That Guides the World
Dr. Gladys West’s story is one of quiet brilliance and perseverance.
She defied the odds, broke racial and gender barriers, and left behind a legacy that helps billions of people navigate their daily lives.
Every GPS-guided step we take is a testament to her genius.
