DR GLADYS WEST
This year’s black history month we focus on Dr Gladys West, whose mathematical genius enables us to enjoy GPS systems to take us from place to place.
She was known for her contributions to mathematical modelling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of satellite geodesy models, which were later incorporated into the Global Positioning System (GPS).[1]
Dr West was also a graduate of a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) – Virginia State University, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics. She earned her doctorate from Virginia Tech in public administration in 2000.
West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018, one of the highest honours bestowed by Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). She was portrayed as one of the characters in the movie “Hidden Figures,” part of the team who did computing for the US military in the era before electronic systems.[2] These black women were hidden from the public, hence the name.
As an alumna of Virginia State University, West was named Female Alumna of the Year at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Awards in 2018.
West was selected by the BBC as part of their 100 Women of 2018. In 2021, the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering awarded her the Prince Philip Medal, its highest individual honour.
In 2024, Virginia’s Fredericksburg City School Board voted to name its third elementary school in her honour, Gladys West Elementary School.[3]
During her career, West encountered many hardships because of racism against African Americans. A prime example was the lack of recognition she received while working, while her white coworkers received praise and added privileges. Her biography makes clear her disappointment at not being granted projects that included travel and exposure.[4]
In addition to getting us from place to place, the global satellite mapping system is what pilots, firefighters and drivers use to get where they’re going.[5]
Through it all, she worked in near obscurity. She was almost 90 before she received any recognition for her work.[6]
Then, almost by accident, her story surfaced.
In 2018, Dr. West attended an event for her college sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, and mentioned on a biographical form that she had helped with the invention of GPS. Gwen James, a fellow alumna who had known Dr. West for years, was floored.[7]
Ms. James then helped to publicize Dr. West’s accomplishments.
CoPilot describes her as “The Mathematician Who Mapped the World.” Her equations created satellite models to enable global navigation. She
- developed the mathematical model of Earth’s shape used in GPS
- measured and mapped the Earth using artificial satellites, using precise observations to, from, or between satellites to determine:
- • the shape and size of the Earth
- • the gravity field
- • the positions of points on Earth’s surface
- • changes over time such as crustal motion, polar motion, and Earth’s rotation
Once again, we see the critical role that HBCUs have played in nurturing and releasing the contributions of black genius to humanity.
In my opinion, President Trump and Secretary Hegseth do the nation and the world a great disservice by firing as many of the top black and women military commanding officers as they can by depriving us of geniuses who might possess the same kind of talent. Dr. West made significant contributions to our defense systems by providing the navigational tools we rely upon.
In Summary
Gladys West was a groundbreaking mathematician whose decades of work in satellite geodesy directly enabled GPS technology, impacting navigation, smartphones, aviation, emergency response, and countless modern systems. She rose from challenging beginnings to become one of the most influential scientific figures of the 20th and 21st centuries.
She recently passed away at age 95.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid. – all the above citations.
[4] Nelsen, R. Arvid (2017). “Race and Computing: The Problem of Sources, the Potential of Prosopography, and the Lesson of Ebony Magazine”. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 39 (1): 29–51. Bibcode:2017IAHC…39a..29N. doi:10.1109/MAHC.2016.11. S2CID 6992544
[5] Gladys West, Unsung Figure in Development of GPS, Dies at 95 – The New York Times
