Gladys Mae West, also known as Gladys Mae Brown, paved the way for the world’s current GPS (global positional system). We use GPS daily, whether on a road trip or traveling on an airplane.
Photo: Adrian Cadiz, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Born in Virginia, Gladys had a humble upbringing and spent much of her youth helping her family farm and plow the fields in rural areas of Virginia. Watching her father work long days to keep the farm steady had shown her that physical labor was not the career she wanted for herself. Her mother worked in a tobacco factory. Gladys went to church every Sunday, always eager to learn about the gospel and sing in the choir.
She graduated high school as the valedictorian of her class, which helped her earn a scholarship to Virginia State University, where she then earned a bachelor’s in mathematics. She understood that with knowledge comes the power to not have to seek hard labor jobs.
In 1960, Gladys then helped determine Neptune’s relativity to Pluto while working in NASAs Geodetic Earth Orbiting program, that in turn caught the eye of the United States Navy. They were interested in creating a GPS system the world could universally use to help navigate and chart the land, air, and sea for all humankind.
Gladys West and Sam Smith. Photo: U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Gladys was the second ever black woman to be hired in Dahlgren, VA on base at the weapons laboratory as an employee at that time. West was known for her swift ability to solve complex math equations. Gladys has spoken out about racism occurring during her times of working within the government and how it was difficult to obtain respect and ranks during the 1960s. Ivan Getting and Bradford Parkison were two of the other main members of the navigation staff helping Gladys.
Gladys’ work with NASA sparked interest from the US government. They believed she could help create a new stable mathematical system that would help chart the US Navy systems, such as NAVSEA and NAVAIR. Gladys was hired in 1956 as the head of the NAVSEA Naval force systems. Her job was to map the ocean floor of the entire world and to have an air map that could help naval pilots fly during operational tasks. GPS was then also created for the Air Force to fly throughout their missions. Gladys was the main mathematician that helped use the North Star, which is a direct access point above the Arctic, to navigate the skies.
Gladys utilized a computer, known as the IBM 7030 Stretch, to develop algorithms that help account for Earth’s natural tidal and gravitational forces that naturally affect Earth’s shape. For example, when you are traveling in a naval ship, you are traveling in knots or nautical miles; the Earth’s natural curve along with the tidal pulls affect the GPS and radar systems.
Since the North Star does not move, it is a great starting point for the GPS system to have a point of consistency. Today, the US Navy and airline systems use Gladys invention of the GPS for transportation purposes.
Gladys is known to be a “Hidden Figure” in American culture, referencing the book and movie, Hidden Figures, as Gladys was the only woman on the team and was able to solve complex mathematical equations that whereas difficult for the other members. Gladys was only acknowledged for her work just recently in 2018, during her indoctrination into the US Air Force Hall of Fame.
In 1986, Gladys helped create satellite GPS systems by implicating the development and mathematics of the Data Processing Systems that helped launch, “Satellite Geodesy.” Companies such as Elon Musk’s Space-X and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin use the Geodesy positioning systems today for their technology when they launch satellites into space and when they recover equipment from landings. The United States Navy also uses GPS still today for navigation among the seas.
She worked at the Dahlgren base in Virginia for over forty-two years, helping with GPS systems and navigational charting until she retired at the age of sixty-eight.
After her retirement in 1998, Gladys pursued her master’s and PhD in Public Administration.
In her recent years, she is an active part of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and spends time with her husband, Ira, who she met in her early years of working with NASA. She is a member of her local YMCA and is now ninety-three years old and still lives in Virginia, down the street from where she helped create GPS.
Without Gladys West, we would not have maps on our cell phones, nor Wi-Fi for our cell phones. She helped create a better foundation for humankind by helping pave the way for GPS systems, the military, worldwide airline systems for transportation, satellite systems for communication devices and global charting and tracking systems.
Gladys West is a pioneer in the scientific community and for the future of technological advances that help create a better future for all levels of society.
Jane was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV. Jane went to Las Vegas High School, where she loved to rock red lipstick and red hair! She also loved outer space, so much so that she wrote about during her senior year in the yearbook for wanting to go to space! After high school, she went to Paul Mitchell School Las Vegas to earn a cosmetology degree and learn about the color spectrum, and where she found her love for Sir Isaac Newton. She then joined the US Navy and was on active duty for over 6 years. Now she is pursuing her Bachelor’s in Public Affairs: Non-Profit Sectors and a Master’s in Public Administration. Jane began her research into the Big Dipper after learning that the movie The Wizard of Oz came out during Adolf Hitler’s time in political office. Jane’s current favorite movie is Don’t Look Up. She hopes to help humanity in the future become the best humans they want to be, because in Jane’s eyes, it is a small world (an ode to her favorite ride at Disneyland, It’s a Small World). She hopes to one day work for a non-profit that helps everyone.
