Trailblazing mathematician Gladys West died at 95. While her name might escape widespread recognition, the impact of her innovations is undeniable, as they formed the groundwork for the global positioning system. GPS has become indispensable in various fields, including aviation and crisis management, while also aiding daily tasks like arriving punctually for social engagements or professional meetings.
Born in 1930 in Virginia, West navigated the challenges of segregation under Jim Crow laws to attend Virginia State College, today known as Virginia State University, where she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in mathematics. She began her career in 1956 at the site that would later be designated the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, her efforts centered on developing precise depictions of the planet's contours using data from satellites, an intricate process demanding sophisticated computational skills. These depictions ultimately served as the essential framework for GPS. West remained with the Dahlgren facility for 42 years until her retirement in 1998.
Similar to numerous women of color who drove advancements in American technology and science, West's accomplishments stayed overlooked for many years. Following her submission of a concise summary of her achievements to an Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority gathering in 2018, sorority members championed efforts to honor her legacy. In 2018, she gained entry into the US Air Force Space and Missiles Pioneers Hall of Fame and received the Female Alumna of the Year accolade from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Awards. A 2020 interview in The Guardian offered glimpses into her experiences, noting her preference for conventional paper maps during outings, even though she played a pivotal role in the emergence of the GPS she helped enable.