Gladys West, who has died aged 95, was a Virginia-born mathematician whose satellite-data analysis and geoid modelling in the 1970s helped establish the mathematical basis for modern GPS. Starting at the US Naval Proving Ground in 1956, she mastered early computing and led projects that produced precise Earth models used for satellite navigation. Her pioneering work received wider recognition late in life, including honours from the BBC, the US Air Force and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Laid Foundations For GPS, Dies Aged 95
Gladys West and her husband Ira in 2020: they had worked together at the US Naval Proving Ground - Avalon
Gladys West, a Virginia-born mathematician whose work on satellite data and geoid modelling in the 1970s helped create the mathematical foundations of modern GPS, has died aged 95. Rising from a small sharecropping farm, she became a pioneering figure at the US Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia, and later at the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
Career and Technical Contributions
West joined the Naval Proving Ground in 1956 as one of only four Black employees on the base, at a time when racial segregation was still enforced. In the 1960s she learned Fortran IV and used the IBM 7030—then among the world’s fastest computers—to process large sets of geodetic and satellite data.
Gladys West looks over data with her Nasa colleague Sam Smith - FM Archive/Alamy
During the 1970s she directed projects that analysed satellite altimetry and related measurements from NASA missions. Working with teams of scientists, she developed progressively refined mathematical models of the geoid (the irregular, true shape of the Earth), using algorithms that accounted for variations in gravitational, tidal, magnetic and other forces. Those models were essential for precisely mapping the Earth’s surface and establishing the reference frames and flight-path calculations later used by GPS satellites.
Recognition and Legacy
West’s vital role remained little known for many years. In 2018 the BBC included her in its BBC 100 Women list, and she was inducted into the US Air Force Hall of Fame the same year. In 2021 she became the first woman to receive the Prince Philip Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering, the academy’s highest individual honour.
Gladys West being inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2018
"When you’re working every day, you’re not thinking, 'What impact is this going to have on the world?' You’re thinking, 'I’ve got to get this right.'"
Early Life and Education
Born Gladys Mae Brown on October 27, 1930, in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, West grew up helping on her family's small farm. Determined to pursue education as a path out of farm work, she walked miles to attend school and earned a scholarship to Virginia State College, where she graduated with a degree in mathematics in 1952. She earned a master's degree in mathematics from Virginia State in 1955 and later took a degree in public administration from the University of Oklahoma in the early 1970s. After retiring, and despite suffering a severe stroke five months after retiring in 1998, she earned a PhD in public administration from Virginia Tech in 2000.
Personal Notes
In 1957 she married Ira West, a fellow Black employee at Dahlgren; both worked as mathematicians at the base. Gladys West preferred paper maps when she travelled, saying they made her feel more certain about routes. Her husband, Ira, died in 2024. She is survived by their three children.
Dates: Born October 27, 1930 — Died January 17, 2026.
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