RICHMOND, Va. — Gladys West, a mathematician who was part of the team that developed the global positioning system -- more commonly known as GPS -- died Jan. 17. She was 95.
According to a social media post, West passed away at her Virginia home while surrounded by family and friends.
Gladys Mae Brown was born in Sutherland, Virginia, on Oct. 27, 1930. She graduated first in her high school class and earned a scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University). She graduated from the school in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in math and earned a graduate degree three years later.
In 1956, she began working as a programmer and mathematician at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren, the second Black woman hired at the base and fourth overall.
This morning the world lost a pioneer in Dr Gladys West, she passed peacefully alongside her family and friends and is now in heaven with her loved ones. We thank you in advance for all of the love and prayers you have and will continue to provide pic.twitter.com/FJ3aGfEiHP
— Dr. Gladys B. West (@DrGladysBWest) January 18, 2026
While at the base, she met fellow mathematician Ira West, and they were married in 1957.
During the early 1960s, Gladys West participated in an astronomical study that proved the regularity of Pluto’s motion relative to Neptune.
At the Naval Surface Warfare Center, she spent years calculating precise models of Earth’s shape, WTVR reported. Her efforts were hailed as the backbone of the GPS program that is used today.
“This woman had so much knowledge and was just such a beautiful person,” said Marvin Jackson, Gladys’ biographer, in a 2022 interview, according to WTVR.
West worked at Dahlgren for 42 years and retired in 1998. Two years later, she completed a doctorate in public administration at Virginia Tech.
Despite her work in developing GPS, West once told the Atlanta Black Star said that she still preferred to use traditional paper maps when she drove.
West received several honors during her lifetime. She was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2018.
In 2021, she was tapped for a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award, and was awarded the Prince Philip Medal by the United Kingdom’s Royal Academy of Engineering.
Also in 2021, West was given the National Museum of the Surface Navy’s Freedom of the Seas Exploration and Innovation Award in 2021.
“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,” retired Navy Rear Adm. Sinclair Harris said in 2023.
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