Sensei Aishitemasu | Hidden Figures: Gladys West #BlackHERstoryMonth 24/28 @SenseiAishitemasu | Uploaded February 2021 | Updated October 2024, 18 minutes ago.
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Gladys West (born 1930) is an American mathematician known for her contributions to the mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS). West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018.

West was born as Gladys Mae Brown in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, a rural county south of Richmond. Her family was a Black American family of sharecroppers; West worked in the fields before daybreak and stayed well into the afternoon. She also attended school, standing out as a gifted student, and graduated as valedictorian from her high school. She received a full-ride scholarship to Virginia State College, a historically Black public university, and majored in math. While at VSC, she also pledged Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

West graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. After graduating, she taught math and science for two years in Waverly, Virginia, in order to save up money for graduate school. She later returned to VSC for her Master of Mathematics degree, and graduated in 1955. In 1956, West was hired to work at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia, where she was the second Black woman ever hired and one of only four Black employees.

She was a programmer in the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division for large-scale computers and a project manager for data-processing systems used in the analysis of satellite data. In the early 1960s, she participated in an award-winning astronomical study that proved the regularity of Pluto’s motion relative to Neptune. West also analyzed data from satellites in order to begin to put together models of the Earth's shape. For her processing speed and accuracy, she was recommended for a commendation in 1979.

From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, West programmed an IBM computer to deliver increasingly precise calculations to model the shape of the Earth. Generating an extremely accurate model required her to employ complex algorithms to account for variations in gravitational, tidal, and other forces that distort Earth's shape. West's data ultimately became the basis for the Global Positioning System (GPS).

West worked at Dahlgren for 42 years, retiring in 1998. After retiring, she completed a PhD in Public Administration from Virginia Tech. Initially forgotten to history, her vital contributions to GPS technology were rediscovered in 2017 when a member of West's sorority read a short biography that she had submitted for an AKA alumni function. She’d noted her 42-year career at the Navy base at Dahlgren, and wrote about developing the Global Positioning System in the 1950s and 1960s; her sorority sister notified the media. West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018.

As an alumna of Virginia State University, West was nominated and won the award for "Female Alumna of the Year" at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Awards in 2018. Also in 2018, West was selected by the BBC as part of their 100 Women of 2018.

West is still alive, and lives in King George County, Virginia.

#HiddenFigures #GladysWest

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Links:

Gladys West maps the future:
cosmosmagazine.com/mathematics/gladys-west-maps-the-future

Gladys West: the hidden figure who helped invent GPS:
theguardian.com/society/2020/nov/19/gladys-west-the-hidden-figure-who-helped-invent-gps

Hidden Figure | Mathematician who helped develop GPS technology inducted into Air Force hall of fame:
gazette.com/news/hidden-figure-mathematician-who-helped-develop-gps-technology-inducted-into-air-force-hall-of-fame/article_7d8d191a-03d3-11e9-81dd-6750bb894cd1.html

Meet Gladys West, The Black Female Engineer Who Played a ‘Pivotal’ Role In Developing the GPS:
atlantablackstar.com/2018/02/04/meet-gladys-west-black-female-engineer-played-pivotal-role-developing-gps

Dr. Gladys West: The Black Woman Behind GPS Technology:
blackdoctor.org/dr-gladys-west-gps

100 Women: Gladys West - the 'hidden figure' of GPS:
bbc.com/news/world-43812053