Mathematician and "Hidden Figure"
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Key moments and achievements from Gladys West's life.
Gladys was born
· King George County, Virginia, United States
Education
Gladys Mae Brown graduated as valedictorian of her high school class in 1948 and received a scholarship to Virginia State University, where she chose to study mathematics — a field mostly studied by men at the time. She earned her B.S. in Mathematics in 1952 and returned for her M.S. in Mathematics in 1955.
Education
Gladys Mae Brown graduated as valedictorian of her high school class in 1948 and received a scholarship to Virginia State University, where she chose to study mathematics — a field mostly studied by men at the time. She earned her B.S. in Mathematics in 1952 and returned for her M.S. in Mathematics in 1955.
Career Milestone
In 1956, West was hired at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia (later the Naval Surface Warfare Center). She was the second Black woman hired and one of only four Black employees at the facility, beginning her groundbreaking career in mathematical modeling for the U.S. military.
Career Milestone
In 1956, West was hired at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia (later the Naval Surface Warfare Center). She was the second Black woman hired and one of only four Black employees at the facility, beginning her groundbreaking career in mathematical modeling for the U.S. military.
Scientific Legacy
West's groundbreaking mathematical models of the Earth's shape were incorporated into the Global Positioning System, making accurate satellite navigation possible. Without her work and subsequent updates, the intricately accurate navigation and timing of GPS would not have been possible, according to the U.S. Space Force.
Scientific Legacy
West's groundbreaking mathematical models of the Earth's shape were incorporated into the Global Positioning System, making accurate satellite navigation possible. Without her work and subsequent updates, the intricately accurate navigation and timing of GPS would not have been possible, according to the U.S. Space Force.
Hall of Fame
In 2018, West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame, finally receiving widespread public recognition for her contributions to satellite geodesy and GPS. Born into a sharecropping family in Sutherland, Virginia, her journey from rural poverty to revolutionizing global navigation was a remarkable American story.
Hall of Fame
In 2018, West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame, finally receiving widespread public recognition for her contributions to satellite geodesy and GPS. Born into a sharecropping family in Sutherland, Virginia, her journey from rural poverty to revolutionizing global navigation was a remarkable American story.
From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, Gladys West worked at the Naval Surface Weapons Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, designing and refining computer programs to produce increasingly accurate models of the Earth's shape — an irregular ellipsoid known as the geoid. Her algorithms accounted for gravitational, tidal, and other forces that distort the planet's true form, and in 1986 she published a 51-page technical report, 'Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter,' which detailed methods for improving geoid height estimates used in satellite geodesy. This geodetic modeling work became a foundational enabler of the Global Positioning System (GPS), providing the geometric framework that allows satellites to calculate precise positions on Earth's surface. West retired from Dahlgren in 1998 after 42 years of service and was inducted into the U.S. Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018.
From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, Gladys West worked at the Naval Surface Weapons Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, designing and refining computer programs to produce increasingly accurate models of the Earth's shape — an irregular ellipsoid known as the geoid. Her algorithms accounted for gravitational, tidal, and other forces that distort the planet's true form, and in 1986 she published a 51-page technical report, 'Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter,' which detailed methods for improving geoid height estimates used in satellite geodesy. This geodetic modeling work became a foundational enabler of the Global Positioning System (GPS), providing the geometric framework that allows satellites to calculate precise positions on Earth's surface. West retired from Dahlgren in 1998 after 42 years of service and was inducted into the U.S. Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018.
Gladys West passed away
