Gladys West, Mathematician Who Helped Develop GPS, Dies at 95

Gladys West, a Virginia-born mathematician credited with work that helped form the basis of modern GPS, has died at 95, Dinwiddie County officials announced; she spent decades at the Naval Proving Ground contributing to satellite data analysis, ocean sensing and planetary studies.

Gladys West, the Virginia-born mathematician credited with contributions to the foundations of modern GPS, died at age 95, Dinwiddie County officials announced on Jan. 20. West taught in public schools after earning a bachelor's degree in mathematics and completed a master's degree in 1955. She was hired by the Navy in 1956 to work at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Va., where she applied mathematics to computer programming and satellite data. Over a decadeslong career she contributed to projects related to satellite positioning, ocean remote sensing and planetary motion, and she retired in 1998. Key facts: - Dinwiddie County officials announced West's death on Jan. 20 and honored her decadeslong public and professional contributions. - Born Gladys Mae Brown in Dinwiddie County, she graduated at the top of her high school class, earned a bachelor's in mathematics and completed a master's in 1955 (Library of Virginia). - She was hired by the Navy in 1956 at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren and was reported as the second African American woman and the fourth African American employee at that site (Library of Virginia). - The Department of Defense and the Library of Virginia report that West compiled satellite data and developed algorithms that helped compute surface elevations and account for distortions in the Earth's shape, work tied to the development of modern GPS. - West also worked on Seasat, an early ocean remote-sensing satellite, and contributed in the early 1960s to a study on Pluto's motion relative to Neptune; she published papers, presented at conferences, retired in 1998 and was later inducted into the U.S. Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018. - Marvin Jackson, who wrote a biography of West, posted a public tribute noting her personal and professional influence. Summary: Her mathematical work underpinned technologies used in satellite navigation, ocean sensing and planetary research, and local officials and colleagues marked her decades of service and legacy. Undetermined at this time.