Dr. Gladys West
Dr. Gladys West is one of the hidden figures behind the Global Positioning System. As a mathematician at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia, she programmed an IBM computer to model the shape of the Earth with unprecedented precision — work that became foundational to GPS technology.
Born in Sutherland, Virginia in 1930, West grew up on a farm and was determined to escape through education. She earned degrees in mathematics from Virginia State University and later a PhD from Virginia Tech at age 70.
For decades, her contribution to GPS was unknown outside a small circle of colleagues. It was not until 2018 — when she was 87 — that she was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame. She had changed how every human on Earth navigates, and almost nobody knew her name.
When you work on something that hard for that long, you get determined.— Dr. Gladys West
Key Milestones
A Life in Firsts
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