Gladys West, who made pivotal contributions to the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS), was born on October 27, 1930, in the community of Sutherland, Virginia. After graduating from her high school as valedictorian, West attended Virginia State College (now Virginia State University). She graduated in 1952 with a B.S. in mathematics. West eventually returned to Virginia State College to earn her master of mathematics degree in 1955. She later received a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma.
In 1956, West began working at the Naval Proving Ground (the present-day Naval Surface Warfare Center) in the community of Dahlgren, Virginia. She was one of four black employees there at the time and only the second black woman to be hired. West ultimately specialized in both computer programming and processing systems for satellite data analysis.
West’s major professional accomplishments included programming an IBM 730 Stretch computer to produce what were some of the most exact calculations for the shape of Earth. In coming up with these calculations, West used complex algorithms to help factor in variations such as gravitational and tidal forces that tend to routinely distort the appearance of Earth’s actual shape.
West published her findings in a 1986 technical report entitled Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Rada Altimeter. This document addressed how to improve the accuracy of geoid heights and vertical deflection, both of which are vital components of satellite geodesy.
In 1998, West retired from the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) after more than four decades of service there. She continued to pursue her education, completing her PhD in public administration and policy affairs at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in 2000.
In her later years, West received more public acclaim than she had before for her vital role in making GPS technology a full-fledged reality and facilitating the efforts of numerous people worldwide to travel from point A to point B. “She rose through the ranks, worked on the satellite geodesy, and contributed to the accuracy of GPS and the measurement of satellite data,” noted Captain Godfrey Weekes, commanding officer at NSWCDD, during Black History Month in 2017. “As Gladys West started her career . . . in 1956, she likely had no idea that her work would impact the world for decades to come.”
West was inducted into the U.S. Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018 and awarded the United Kingdom’s Prince Philip Medal in 2021. In addition, she received the Freedom of the Seas Exploration and Innovation Award in 2023. Notwithstanding such honors, West made it abundantly clear that she preferred using print maps over the high-tech navigation technology that she helped make possible. “I’m a doer, hands-on kind of person,” she asserted in a 2020 interview with the London-based Guardian. “If I can see the road and see where it turns and see where it went, I am more sure.” West died on January 17, 2026, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She was 95.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on Gladys West, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_West
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