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By Gladys West (née Brown)
Born into a farming family in rural Virginia, Gladys West grew up under Jim Crow laws. Convinced that education was her only way to escape the grueling farm work, she earned a scholarship and excelled in mathematics. In 1956, she joined the Dahlgren Naval Base, becoming the second Black woman programmer in the center's history, at a time when human computers were beginning to be replaced by giant machines.
West’s work focused on satellite geodesy. She processed massive volumes of data from satellites like SEASAT and GEOSAT to model the figure of the Earth (the geoid) with extreme precision.
Her algorithms made it possible to correct measurement errors caused by gravity variations and irregularities in the Earth's surface. Without this mathematical precision, the coordinates provided by satellites today would be off by several kilometers.
Gladys West’s legacy is present in every smartphone, airplane, and modern navigation system. Her work laid the software foundations for GPS, a technology that has become vital to the global economy and security. Long anonymous, she is now an icon for African American women in STEM.
Her contribution was only revealed to the general public in the late 2010s. In 2018, she was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame, one of the highest military honors. A recipient of the "Webby Lifetime Achievement" award, she also had an asteroid, (75423) Gladyswest, named in her honor.
