Did you know that GPS (global positioning system) got its start in the mind of Gladys West?
West's contributions to GPS technology were lost to the world until a member of her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha read a short biography she submitted for an alumni function.
As a result, West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame, one of the Air Force Space Command's highest honors.
During the induction, here's how Capt. Godfrey Weekes, then a commanding officer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, described the role played by the Air Force mathematician.
“She rose through the ranks, worked on the satellite geodesy, and contributed to the accuracy of GPS and the measurement of satellite data," he said. "As Gladys West started her career as a mathematician at Dahlgren in 1956, she likely had no idea that her work would impact the world for decades to come."
In 1956, West was hired to work at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia, (now called the Naval Surface Warfare Center), where she was the second black woman ever hired and one of only four black employees. West worked at Dahlgren for 42 years, retiring in 1998.
West 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. Concurrently, West earned a second master's degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma.
In the early 1960s, she participated in an astronomical study that proved the regularity of Pluto’s motion relative to Neptune. Subsequently, West began to analyze data from satellites, putting together altimeter models of the Earth's shape. She became project manager for the Seasat radar altimetry project, the first satellite that could remotely sense oceans.
From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, West programmed an IBM computer to deliver precise calculations to model the shape of the Earth – an ellipsoid with irregularities, known as the geoid. 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).
In 1986, West published "Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter", a 51-page technical report from the Naval Surface Weapons Center (NSWC). The guide was published to explain how to increase the accuracy of the estimation of geoid heights and vertical deflection, important components of satellite geodesy. This was achieved by processing the data created from the radio altimeter on the Geosat satellite, which went into orbit on March 12, 1984.
“When you’re working every day," West said at the presentation, "you’re not thinking, ‘What impact is this going to have on the world?’ You're thinking, ‘I’ve got to get this right.’ ”
Gladys Mae West (née Brown) was born in Sutherland, Virginia, a rural county south of Richmond. West was born to a farming family. Her mother worked at a tobacco factory, and her father was a farmer who also worked for the railroad.
At West's high school, the top two students of each graduating class received full-ride scholarships to Virginia State University (formerly College), a historically black public university.[4] West worked hard and graduated in 1948 with the title of valedictorian. She was initially unsure of what college major to pursue at VSU, as she had excelled in all her subjects in high school. She was encouraged to major in science or math because of their difficulty, and West ultimately chose to study mathematics.
She also became a member of the 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. West then returned to VSU to complete her Master of Mathematics degree, graduating in 1955. Afterward, she briefly took another teaching position in Martinsville, Virginia.
She met her husband Ira West at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, where he also worked as a mathematician. They were two of only four black employees at the time. They were married in 1957. They have three children and seven grandchildren. As of February 2018, West lives in King George County, Virginia. In 2018, West completed a Ph.D. via a distance-learning program with Virginia Tech. West continues to prefer using a paper map over a tracking system, saying she still trusts her brain above all.
In the Jan. 19, 2018 photo, Gladys West and her husband Ira West stand in their home in King George, Va. (Mike Morones/The Free Lance-Star via AP)
