Gladys West: The Mathematician Behind GPS

Gladys West was born in Sutherland, Virginia, on October 27, 1930, and she became a skilled mathematician. She was hired by the U.S. Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren in 1956, where she worked on satellite data processing for decades. While at Dahlgren she helped create computer models for the Earth’s shape, called the geoid, and she used complex algorithms to account for gravity, tides, and other forces. In the 1970s West led data analysis for Seasat, an experimental ocean satellite, and in 1986 she published a technical report that improved Geosat altimeter data processing.

Her calculations made it possible to measure satellite orbits more precisely, and those models later contributed to the development of the Global Positioning System. Although her work was not widely known for many years, she was honored after retirement. In 2018 West was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame and was named among the BBC’s 100 Women. She retired in 1998 and later completed a Ph.D. in public administration. She died on January 17, 2026, in Alexandria, Virginia, at the age of 95.