Gladys West
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Gladys Mae West (née Brown; born October 27, 1930) is an American
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
. She is known for her contributions to mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of
satellite geodesy Satellite geodesy is geodesy by means of artificial satellites—the measurement of the form and dimensions of Earth, the location of objects on its surface and the figure of the Earth's gravity field by means of artificial satellite techniques ...
models, that were later incorporated into the
Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...
(GPS). West was inducted into the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Hall of Fame in 2018. West was awarded the Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for the development of satellite geodesy models.


Early life and education

Gladys Mae Brown was born in Sutherland, Virginia, in Dinwiddie County, a rural county south of Richmond. Also printed as
Stamford Advocate


Her family was an African-American farming family in a community of
sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...
s. She spent much of her childhood working on her family's small farm. As well as working on the farm, her mother worked in a tobacco factory and her father worked for the railroad. West saw education as her way to a different life. At West's high school, the top two students from each graduating class received full scholarships to Virginia State College (now
Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black land-grant university, land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia, United States. Founded on , Vi ...
), a historically black public university. West graduated as valedictorian in 1948, and received the scholarship. At VSU, West chose to study mathematics, a subject that was mostly studied at her college by men. She also joined the
Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...
sorority. West graduated in 1952 with a
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in mathematics, and then taught math and science for two years in Waverly, Virginia. West returned to VSU to complete a Master of Mathematics degree, graduating in 1955. Afterward, she began another teaching position in
Martinsville, Virginia Martinsville is an Political subdivisions of Virginia#Independent cities, independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13, ...
.


Career

In 1956, West was hired to work at the Naval Proving Ground in
Dahlgren, Virginia Dahlgren is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in King George County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,946 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 2,653 at the 2010 census, and up from 997 in 2000. Histor ...
(now the
Naval Surface Warfare Center The Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) is part of the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) operated by the United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United Sta ...
). She was the second black woman hired and one of only four black employees. West was a computer programmer in the Dahlgren division, and a project manager for processing systems for satellite data analysis. Concurrently, West earned a Master's degree in Public Administration from the
University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...
. In the early 1960s, West participated in an award-winning study that proved the regularity of
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
’s motion relative to
Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...
. Subsequently, West began to analyze satellite altimeter data from NASA's Geodetic Earth Orbiting program, to create models of the Earth's shape. She became project manager for the Seasat radar altimetry project, the first satellite that could remotely sense oceans. West's work cut her team's processing time in half, and she was recommended for a commendation. From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, West programmed an
IBM 7030 Stretch The IBM 7030, also known as Stretch, was IBM's first transistorized supercomputer. It was the fastest computer in the world from 1961 until the first CDC 6600 became operational in 1964."Designed by Seymour Cray, the CDC 6600 was almost three tim ...
computer to deliver increasingly precise calculations for the shape of the Earth; an
ellipsoid An ellipsoid is a surface that can be obtained from a sphere by deforming it by means of directional Scaling (geometry), scalings, or more generally, of an affine transformation. An ellipsoid is a quadric surface;  that is, a Surface (mathemat ...
with additional undulations known as the ''
geoid The geoid ( ) is the shape that the ocean surface would take under the influence of the gravity of Earth, including gravitational attraction and Earth's rotation, if other influences such as winds and tides were absent. This surface is exte ...
''. To generate an accurate
geopotential Geopotential (symbol ''W'') is the potential of the Earth's gravity field. It has SI units of square metre per square seconds (m2/s2). For convenience it is often defined as the of the potential energy per unit mass, so that the gravity vect ...
model West needed to use complex algorithms to account for variations in the gravitational, tidal, and other forces that distort Earth's shape. 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). This explained how to improve the accuracy of geoid heights and
vertical deflection The vertical deflection (VD) or deflection of the vertical (DoV), also known as deflection of the plumb line and astro-geodetic deflection, is a measure of how far the gravity direction at a given point of interest is rotated by local mass anom ...
, important components of
satellite geodesy Satellite geodesy is geodesy by means of artificial satellites—the measurement of the form and dimensions of Earth, the location of objects on its surface and the figure of the Earth's gravity field by means of artificial satellite techniques ...
. This was achieved by processing data from the radio altimeter on the Geosat satellite, which went into orbit on March 12, 1984. West worked at Dahlgren for 42 years, and retired in 1998. In 2000, she completed a
PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in Public Administration at
Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...
by distance-learning.


Legacy

West's vital contributions to GPS technology were recognized when a member of her sorority
Alpha Kappa Alpha Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. () is an List of African American fraternities, historically African-American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The sorority was founded in 1908 at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. Alpha Kappa Alpha ...
read a short biography West had submitted for an alumni function. West was inducted into the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Hall of Fame in 2018, one of the highest honors bestowed by
Air Force Space Command An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosphere ...
(AFSPC). The AFSPC press release hailed her as one of "the 'Hidden Figures' part of the team who did computing for the US military in the era before electronic systems", a reference to the 2016 book by Margot Lee Shetterly, which was adapted into the film ''
Hidden Figures ''Hidden Figures'' is a 2016 American Biographical film, biographical Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Theodore Melfi and written by Melfi and Allison Schroeder. It is loosely based on the 2016 non-fiction Hidden Figures (boo ...
''. Capt. Godfrey Weekes, commanding officer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, described the role played by West in the development of
Global Positioning System The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based hyperbolic navigation system owned by the United States Space Force and operated by Mission Delta 31. It is one of the global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) that provide ge ...
: "She rose through the ranks, worked on the satellite geodesy, and contributed to the accuracy of GPS and the measurement of satellite data. As Gladys West started her career ... in 1956, she likely had no idea that her work would impact the world for decades to come." West agreed, saying "When you’re working every day, you’re not thinking, 'What impact is this going to have on the world?' You're thinking, 'I've got to get this right.'" As an alumna of Virginia State University, West won the award for "Female Alumna of the Year" at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Awards in 2018. West was selected by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
as part of their 100 Women of 2018. In 2021, she was awarded the Prince Philip Medal by the UK's
Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...
, their highest individual honor. In 2024, Virginia's Fredericksburg City School Board voted to name its third elementary school in her honor: Gladys West Elementary School.


Personal life

West met her husband Ira 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. The West family went to Chapel on the Proving Ground every Sunday. , West lives in
King George County, Virginia King George County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 26,723. Its county seat is the census designated place of King George. The county's largest employer is the U.S. Naval S ...
. Her husband died on October 20, 2024. The Civil Rights movement was fully underway during her time at the base. Though she supported the movement, she could not participate in protests because she was a government employee. In Boomtown, where married people lived on base, she was part of a club of black women who discussed civil rights topics. During her career, West encountered many hardships because of racism against African Americans. A prime example was the lack of recognition she received while working, while her white coworkers received praise and added privileges. Her biography makes clear her disappointment at not being granted projects that included travel and exposure. West continues to prefer using paper maps over
GNSS A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geopositioning. A satellite navigation system with global coverage is termed global navigation satellite system (GNSS). , four global systems are op ...
-based navigation systems, saying, "I'm a doer, hands-on kind of person. If I can see the road and see where it turns and see where it went, I am more sure."


Publications

* * * *


See also

* Irene Fischer * List of African-American women in STEM fields


References


Further reading and external links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Gladys 1930 births 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women 20th-century American mathematicians 20th-century American scientists 20th-century American women scientists 20th-century American women mathematicians 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women African-American computer scientists African-American mathematicians African-American women mathematicians American computer scientists American geodesists American women computer scientists American computer programmers Living people Mathematicians from Virginia People associated with the Global Positioning System People from Dinwiddie County, Virginia People from King George County, Virginia Scientists from Virginia University of Oklahoma alumni Virginia State University alumni Virginia Tech alumni 21st-century African-American scientists