The average citizen has used a GPS navigation system, however, most people don’t know that an African-American Pioneer named Gladys West was a major contributor to the futuristic device in the 1960s.
Gladys West was born October 27, 1930, in Sutherland, Virginia. She was one of four siblings born to Macy and Nolan Brown. Her father worked for a railroad, and her mother worked in a tobacco factory. The majority of Gladys West’s childhood was spent on a family farm. However, since day one, West knew she didn’t want to be a farmer and work in the fields like her parents did. Unlike many, she valued teducation and had aspirations.
According to The Guardian, West said, “I was gonna get an education and I was going to get out of there. I wasn’t going to be stuck there all my life.”
During her high school years, West studied diligently and became the valedictorian of her class. Her ambition earned her a free scholarship to Virginia State College (now formally Virginia State University). In 1952, West graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and soon after obtained a master’s degree in mathematics.
Gladys West started her career in 1956 working for the Navy. She worked as a mathematician to do computer programming and coding at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia. It was there that she became the second African American woman to be hired, making her only one of four black employees. Unfortunately, during her 42 years of service working for the Navy, West faced several hardships like racism. While working there, she received zero recognition for her work, and her white coworkers got all the praise.
Fortunately, she was able to participate in an award-winning, astronomical study in the early 60’s. This study proved that the regularity of Pluto’s motion is relative to Neptune. She then incredibly became the project manager for the Seasat radar altimetry project. Seaset was the first satellite that could monitor oceans. She overlooked a team of five people and programmed an IBM 7030 Stretch computer, which provided calculations for an accurate geodetic Earth model. It gave a detailed mathematical model of the shape of the earth that ultimately became the GPS orbit.
During the time in which her team laid the foundation for GPS, she went to college once again to get another master’s degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma.
After West retired in 1988, she then went on to complete a PhD in Public Administration from Virginia Tech.
According to the U.S Department of Defense, retired Navy Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris said, “I think that Dr. West is another one of those hidden figures in our military that play a critical role in the advancements that not only affected our ability to fire missiles accurately but also enable everyday life when you pick up your phone and you’re trying to find something.”
In 2018, Dr. West became the only African-American woman to be formally inducted into the Air Force Missile and Space Pioneers Hall of Fame. More recently, she has also been inducted into the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame.
Gladys West’s contributions from the everyday GPS to the U.S. government missiles have moved and helped our society for the better. She is an inspirational hero who has paved a path for future generations. West has become a symbol of hard work, and helped shine a spotlight on the hidden African-American heroes that we can reflect on and finally properly appreciate.
