Mathematician and GPS pioneer Gladys West dies at 95

She laid the groundwork for modern satellite navigation but preferred to use printed paper maps herself when traveling. Mathematician Gladys West, who played a crucial role in developing the foundations for the Global Positioning System (GPS), has died at the age of 95. This was announced on her X channel.

Mathematician West began working as a programmer at a US Navy research facility in Dahlgren, Virginia, in 1956. She earned her first accolades in the early 1960s: she participated in a study that proved the regularity of Pluto's orbit in relation to Neptune.

After that, she began to work with satellite data. Initially, she analyzed altimeter data collected by satellites, which was used to create accurate models of the Earth's shape.

Use of the first IBM supercomputer

To further refine the models, West used, among other things, the first supercomputer, the IBM 7030, also known as Stretch. She developed complex algorithms to calculate the fluctuations in gravity, tides, and other forces that distort the Earth's shape. These highly accurate models of the Earth ultimately formed the basis for location determination using satellites.

West was born Gladys Mae Brown on October 27, 1930, to farmers in Sutherland, Virginia. Despite the racial segregation prevalent there, she studied mathematics at Virginia State College. As one of the top students in her class, she received a scholarship for it.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1952, she worked as a math teacher for two years but then returned to university. In 1955, she completed her master's degree and then worked as a teacher again.

In 1956, she transferred to the US Navy, to the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren (later: Naval Surface Warfare Center). There, she was the second Black woman and one of four Black individuals overall. She also met her husband, mathematician Ira West, at the Navy, whom she married in 1957 and with whom she had three children and seven grandchildren.

West did not leave the Navy until 1998, when she retired. She subsequently earned a doctorate and received her Ph.D. in Administration from the Virginia Institute of Technology in 2000.

Honors for West

Although largely unknown to the general public, West received a number of honors for her work. In 2018, the US Air Force inducted her into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame. In 2021, she received the Webby Lifetime Award from the International Academy of the Digital Arts and Sciences. The British Royal Academy of Engineering honored her in the same year with the Prince Philip Medal.

“Dr. West is one of those unsung heroes in our military who played a critical role in achievements that not only influence our ability to guide missiles accurately, but also make our daily lives easier when we reach for our phones and search for something,” said retired Rear Admiral Sinclair Harris in 2023 at a ceremony in Dahlgren honoring West.

Although West was instrumental in the development of GPS and was proud of it, she did not use it herself. She preferred printed maps, she said in a 2020 interview with the British newspaper The Guardian. “If I can see the road, where it turns and where it goes, I feel safer.”

Gladys West died on January 17 at the age of 95, surrounded by her family.

(wpl)