She talks about what it is like being recognized on an international level, being inducted into the Air Force Space & Mission Pioneers Hall of Fame, and why it is important for girls to have a strong foundation in math. Today we honor this hidden hero for her work in helping us all find our way wherever we are headed. Gladys West tells us about how math contributed to the GPS, why she chose to study math, and what about it appealed to her. Her lifelong commitment to education and excellence is an inspiration. Gladys Mae West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame for her efforts and contributions to the Air Force’s space program. West’s vital contributions to GPS technology were rediscovered when a member of West’s sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha read a short biography Gladys had submitted for an alumni function. Her development of the satellite models was eventually incorporated into the Global Positioning System (GPS) used worldwide today. Her work focused on data collection from orbiting satellites and the mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth. Navy base in Virginia back in the 1950s and ’60s would play a pivotal role in creating a popular form of technology that is now incorporated into cell phones, cars, space programs, the military, aviation, and even social media. Gladys West never knew that her work at a U.S. West, who was born in 1930, worked as a mathematician, collecting and analyzing satellite data of the Earth’s surface, until she eventually created a detailed model and helped developed the. military before the development of computers. She was among a small group of women who did calculations by hand for the U.S. In 1957, West began her 42-year career as a mathematician at the Dahlgren, Virginia Naval Base as one of four black employees. She became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, majored in mathematics and began working as a teacher following graduation. She was a first-generation college student growing up in the times of segregation. ![]() West graduated valedictorian of her high school and earned a scholarship to Virginia State University. ![]() Her books were old, her learning conditions weren’t very satisfactory, but she pressed on. Gladys Mae West (1931) is an African-American mathematician known for her contributions to the mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth and the inventor of the GPS.īorn in 1931 in Dinwiddie Country, Virginia, West decided at a very early age that she would use education to make her way out of poverty.
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