Dr. Gladys M. West: GPS Trailblazer

October 27, 1930 — January 17, 2026

Pioneering African American mathematician whose contributions at the U.S. Naval Proving Ground (now known as the Naval Surface Warfare Center) were crucial in the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Dr. Gladys M. West was a pioneering African American mathematician whose work at the U.S. Naval Proving Ground (now the Naval Surface Warfare Center) was instrumental in the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS), a technology now essential to daily life worldwide. She modeled Earth’s precise shape and designed algorithms that enabled highly accurate satellite tracking.

Beginning in 1956, West was only the second Black woman hired at the Navy’s Dahlgren facility, where she programmed early IBM computers to process complex satellite data and, in 1978, led the Seasat radar altimetry project, the first satellite mission to conduct remote sensing of the world’s oceans. Born to farming parents in rural Virginia, she graduated as valedictorian of her high school and earned a scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), later completing a master’s degree in mathematics and, after retiring at age 70, a Ph.D. in public administration.

After decades of largely unseen contributions, West was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2018, a formal recognition of her central role in building the mathematical backbone of GPS technology. Her work underpins the precision navigation systems used today in smartphones, cars, and military applications.

Dr. Gladys M. West passed away on January 17, 2026, at the age of 95, leaving behind a legacy that continues to guide the world—quite literally—with every step we take.

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May Her Memory be Eternal!