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Gladys Mae Brown West

Quick Info

Born
27 October 1930
Sutherland, Virginia, USA
Died
17 January 2026
Alexandria, Virginia, USA
Summary
Gladys West was a mathematician whose work was instrumental in creating the GPS system widely used today. Although unrecognised during her 42 year career, she gained world-wide fame beginning at the age of 87.
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Biography

Gladys West was the daughter of Nolan Brown (1908-1959) and Macy Pearl Scott (1909-1981). She was Gladys Mae Brown before her marriage, using the name Gladys Brown West after she married. Let us refer to her in our biography as Gladys until her marriage.

Nolan Brown was born in Belle Fonte, Nottoway County, Virginia on 3 September 1908 but lived in Namozine, Dinwiddie County from the age of ten. He became a farmer but also worked for the railroad and the Titmus Optical Company. He was member of Rocky Branch Baptist Church. Macy Scott was born on 29 August 1909 in Namozine, Dinwiddie, Virginia and worked at a tobacco factory. Nolan and Macy Brown were married in 1926 and they had four children: Joseph Lee Brown (born 13 February 1928); Gladys Mae Brown (born 27 October 1930), the subject of this biography; Annie Bertha Brown (born 25 July 1933); and Nolan Brown Jr (born 9 March 1936).

Let us give a little information about Gladys' siblings. Joseph Lee Brown studied at Dinwiddie Training High School and, after working for Brown Williamson Tobacco Corporation in Petersburg, continued his career at First Federal Savings Bank and then the Gentry Well Works, Petersburg until his retirement. Annie Bertha Brown became a school teacher. She married Frederick Earl Grimes in 1959, then Lanksford Eli Hankins in 1960. Nolan Brown Jr was a 1954 graduate of Dinwiddie Training High School in Dinwiddie County. He was employed by the Titmus Optical Company then entered the Army.

Gladys and her siblings grew up on a small farm in Dinwiddie County. She writes that her parents [67]:-
... did their best to provide for us the only way they knew how, with strong values, prayer, and an enduring work ethic.
From a young age Gladys and her siblings had to work hard on the farm. Often her parents were working at jobs away from the farm and then she had to work even harder. Her work included chopping and sawing wood, feeding their chickens, cows and hogs, and looking after the horses. It was hard never-ending work and Gladys dreamed that one day she would have a better life.

She began her education at Butterwood Road School. Gilbert Lancelot Raiford writes [45]:-
Not unlike ex-enslaved people throughout the south, Blacks did what they could to get an education. In rural Sutherland, they pooled their meagre resources and built a one-room schoolhouse, which they named Butterwood Road School. Their books were those discarded by white students - usually marked up and with missing pages. The students were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic from first through seventh grades - all in one room and all by one teacher. There was no transportation and many of the students had to walk as many as five miles to attend.
To reach this school Gladys had to cross the railway and walk three miles to reach the school. She wrote [67]:-
Every day I wished and dreamed of having more - more books, more classrooms, more teachers, and more time to dream and imagine what life would be like if only I could fly away from the strenuous and seemingly never-ending work on our family farm. I just had to get away from that farm someday. It surely was not the place for an open-minded girl like me, with big city dreams.
After seven years in the one-classroom school, Gladys went to Dinwiddie Training School. She travelled by bus to this high school for coloured students. The natural subject for her was home economics, she felt that she had the background and it was a girls' subject. Her teachers, however, encouraged her to go to college and study mathematics or science, telling her that she was a talented mathematician and that it would give her more opportunities. Her parents certainly could not afford to pay college fees but when she learnt that the top two students were awarded full scholarships to Virginia State College she worked extra hard. She graduated from Dinwiddie Training School on 7 June 1948 as the top student in her year; she was awarded a scholarship.

Gladys chose to follow the advice she had received from her teachers and decided that she would study mathematics at Virginia State College, a Historically Black College in Ettrick, Virginia. There was, however, a problem she had to solve, namely to be able to pay for her board and lodgings. Her parents were supportive and said they could provide enough to cover this for one year. When she explained her problems to her mathematics professor he offered her a part-time job babysitting. Her greatest support, however, came from John and Louise Hunter who gave her accommodation, encouragement and inspiration. She wrote [67]:-
I now realize how much of a positive influence they had on me while I was an undergraduate student. Their example alone was enough to inspire me to go as far as I could as a scholar, and their advice and guidance were priceless.
Perhaps we should give a little information about the Hunters. John McNeile Hunter (1901-1979) was the third African American to receive a PhD in physics. He spent his whole career as a professor of physics at the Virginia State. He married Ella Louise Stokes on 10 September 1929. She had been awarded a master's Degree in education from Howard University in 1925 and became an instructor at the Virginia Normal and Industrial Institute, which became Virginia State College in 1930. Louise Hunter later was awarded a PhD in mathematics education from the University of Virginia. She is remembered today for her exceptional efforts mentoring Black students, particularly Black women studying mathematics. Gladys wrote about Louise Hunter in [67]:-
It seemed like she still had something to prove, and maybe she felt like she was carrying the weight of other women on her shoulders. She probably wanted to be respected equally by the others in her profession, who were almost always men.
Gladys was awarded a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Virginia State College in 1952 and taught mathematics and science in a school in Waverly, Virginia for two years. Having lived as cheaply as possible during these two years and saved to fund further study, she returned to Virginia State College to study for a Master's Degree in Mathematics. She was awarded the degree in 1955 having written the thesis Approximation of an Area by Use of Inscribed Conics.

While completing her studies, Gladys had applied for various jobs, including one at the Naval Proving Ground at Dahlgren, now called Naval Support Facility Dahlgren. She received the offer of an interview at Dahlgren but, with a sudden loss of confidence, she decided not to go for the interview [47]:-
I wasn't sure if they were serious, and I couldn't find it on a map, so I had no idea where Dahlgren was located.
She wondered how to get there, where she would live, thought that perhaps they did not realise she was a coloured person, so she made no attempt to accept the invitation. Ralph Niemann, who was head of the Warfare Analysis Department at Dahlgren, decided to offer her a position without the interview and when this second letter arrived a week after the first she accepted. We should note here that Niemann was following the executive order issued by President Eisenhower in 1955 banning discrimination in Federal hiring practices. She wrote in [67] that Niemann:-
... had great vision and foresight, bringing in those big computers, which required lots of mathematicians and scientists. Niemann believed that recruiting women and minorities into the workforce was one way to bring in people with very strong skills who may have been overlooked elsewhere. At a time when so many were overlooking those who had looked like me, Niemann gave me a chance, the chance of a lifetime.
In 1956 she travelled the 240 miles from her Virginia home to begin her career at Dahlgren. She became the second coloured woman to work there and was one of only four black employees. One of these four was Ira Vivion West (1931-2024) whom she later married [42]:-
She still remembers her first day. The military base was grey, and people were mingling before starting work, laughing and drinking coffee. She met the man who would become her husband, Ira West - but refused to be distracted and at first largely ignored him. "I just got there and I was a serious woman. I didn't have time to be playing around," she says. Her white colleagues were friendly and respectful, but initially didn't socialise with her outside the office - something she tried not to let get to her.
Soon after arriving at Dahlgren, Gladys was sent on a six-week course to teach her to program a computer. Of course, in the 1950s programming one of the new room-sized computers was very different from using the high level language later developed. The first programming that she did was using punch cards. She had to write the instructions using only 0s and 1s, then give her program to a keypuncher who transferred her instructions to the punch cards. Once the pile of cards was returned to her they were placed in a tray which was then forwarded to the group of computer operators. Usually the program would not work and she had to debug it and try again.

Although Gladys tried to make sure that her determination to work hard was not spoilt by becoming friendly with Ira West, she remembered the partnership between John and Louise Hunter she had seen when she was an undergraduate, so she was soon happy to chat with Ira during their lunch breaks.

Ira West had been born on 8 May 1931 in Glen Allen, Virginia, to Leroy Alexander West (1906-1951) and Blanche Estelle Melton (1909-1993). He was the youngest of two boys and grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He had been awarded a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Virginia Union University and a master's degree from the University of Oklahoma. In 1955 he became the second Black scientist to be hired at Dahlgren. Ira and Gladys were married on 15 June 1957 in the Baptist Church in Dinwiddie, Virginia. Gladys' address is given on the marriage certificate as 4007 Piney Road, Richmond, Virginia while Ira's is given as Petersburg, Virginia. After Gladys suffered two stillbirths, Ira and Gladys West adopted three children, Carolyn West (born 16 April 1961), David West and Michael West. Carolyn West majored in Economics and has a Masters Degree and a PhD in Leadership and Human Resources.

It was not an easy time for the Wests with segregation and discrimination but Gladys was determined to succeed. She writes [67]:-
I wanted to adapt to this fascinating, new environment and succeed as soon as I could. I knew my work was cut out for me. As a double minority like I was, at a time where opportunities for women and people who looked like me were scarce, I felt there would be a lot of folks counting on me. There were other women of colour who were coming behind me, the Hunters, and my family back home, and I absolutely wanted to make them proud.
West made remarkable contributions to the work being undertaken at Dahlgren although at the time she received essentially no recognition for it. Only after she retired did she receive the recognition she deserved. Let us first follow [29] in describing West's most famous contribution, namely her work on GPS:-
After the shocking Sputnik launch at the end of that year, the military's computing resources were increasingly devoted to its embryonic satellite program, including TRANSIT, the predecessor of GPS. By the 1960s, West was working on experimental satellite altimeter systems that were designed to measure the exact shape of the Earth. In the following decade, she was promoted to project lead for the SEASAT program, which deployed a new kind of three-dimensional radar technology to detect oceanographic conditions, including winds, water temperature, ice formations, and other crucial data. All of that work culminated in a period in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when West led a five-person team programming an IBM Stretch 7073 computer to calculate what is technically known as the "geoid" - a description of the Earth's true gravitational shape. Imagine a hypothetical planet entirely covered by ocean water, with no land masses - but still influenced by the same gravitational forces of the real Earth, the ones created by mountain ranges or deep sea trenches. Instead of an even sea level distribution across its surface, there would be subtle undulations in the height of the oceans: sea levels would be slightly higher in places experiencing lower gravitational forces and vice versa. The geoid is a mathematical description of that shape. Not only did Gladys West create the first accurate account of the geoid, but she even wrote a handbook for future technicians describing the best techniques for creating even more accurate models of the geoid. That map of Earth's gravitational fields was the final missing piece that allowed the creation of the modern GPS system, with its near-instant results and remarkable accuracy.
Let us note at this point that seeking a mathematical description of the geoid was not a new problem since it had been addressed by several mathematicians, for example Gauss, Stokes and Laplace. West's remarkable contributions are given in detail in the four papers [68], [69], 70], [71].

The Abstract of [68] reads:-
Filtering of a large portion of Geos 3 satellite radar altimetry data at the Naval Surface Weapons Center has been accomplished by a Wiener smoother. The statistics of the geoid for the Wiener smoother is based on a third-order Markov process. Because of some limitations the Wiener smoother has been replaced by a Kalman smoother which satisfies more closely the conditions of the altimetry data. The Kalman smoother also uses the same third-order Markov statistics. A discussion of the smoothers (filter models), results obtained from the models, and a comparison of results with ship survey data are given in this paper.
The Abstract of [70] reads:-
The radius and the origin of a mean earth ellipsoid have been determined using geoid heights derived from SEASAT-1 radar altimetric observations of the ocean surface and potential coefficients. While assuming that the altimetric geoid is the best available, adjustments are made to the geoid derived from potential coefficients so that the geoid differences are minimised. This adjustment is then applied to the ellipsoid which best fits the geoid derived from potential coefficients. Solutions using two different sets of altimetric geoid heights and geoid heights based on the DOD WGS 72 and GEM10B potential coefficients gave a mean ellipsoid with radius a = 6378134.9 m and origin shifts less than 1 m in the x and y components and approximately −2.5 m in the z component. A description of the geoid height data used in the solutions for the ellipsoid parameters, results of the solutions, and a summary are presented.
West retired from Dahlgren in 1998 having worked there for 42 years. Her husband had retired one year earlier and, immediately after Gladys retired, the couple celebrated by taking a holiday in Australia and New Zealand. While on the flight she looked down at the earth below the plane [14]:-
... reflecting on all the computations I had performed to calculate the shape of the Earth.
For several years before she retired Gladys West had been taking courses at Virginia Tech, aiming to complete her studies for a doctorate in Public Administration. Five months after retirement, however, West had a stroke. This was devastating in that she had impaired vision, hearing and balance. At this point she showed the remarkable determination which she had displayed throughout her life, becoming determined to complete her doctorate. Supported by her husband, she took classes at the King George YMCA to recover her mobility. In the year 2000 she was awarded a doctorate from Virginia Tech having written the thesis The effects of downsizing on survivors.
You can read the Abstract of West's thesis at THIS LINK.

Gladys West was 87 years old, and had been retired for nearly 20 years, before she began to receive honours for her remarkable achievements [11]:-
West's contributions went unrecognised not just by herself, but others too. Her 42-year career at the navy base was largely unremarked. But years later, she sent a short autobiography to a sorority function. To her surprise, her sorority sisters were blown away. "I just thought it was my work, and we'd never talk to our friends about work. I just never thought about it. I didn't brag about what I was working on," West says. "But to see other people so excited about it, that was amazing."
In 2018 she suddenly became famous for the work she had done many decades before. For example: there was a Senate Joint Resolution commending Gladys West in 2018; she was included in the BBC's 100 women of 2018; she was inducted into the Space and Missiles Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2028; she was awarded the Prince Philip Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2021; she received the IEEE President's Award in 2024; and she was inducted into the GIS Hall of Fame in 2025.
For details of these and other honours given to West, see THIS LINK.

In 2020 she published [67], the autobiography It began with a dream: Dr Gladys B West.
You can read information about this book including the publisher's description, the Foreword and the Introduction at THIS LINK.

A stroke was not the only major heath problem that West suffered. She was diagnosed with breast cancer about five years after her stroke and then developed Alzheimer's disease. Her husband Ira West died on 20 October 2024 and Gladys West died at her home in Alexandria, Virginia from complications of Alzheimer's disease in January 2026.

Let us end with a quote from Gladys West [11]:-
We always get pushed to the back because we are not usually the ones that are writing the book of the past. It was always them writing and they wrote about people they thought were acceptable. And now we're getting a little bit more desire to pull up everyone else that's made a difference. ... I felt proud of myself as a woman, knowing that I can do what I can do. But as a black woman, that's another level where you have to prove to a society that hasn't accepted you for what you are. What I did was keep trying to prove that I was as good as you are. There is no difference in the work we can do. ... I'm hoping that, from the protesters marching for Black Lives Matter, we become better people, closer to the reality of who we really are, and the world becomes more united than it is now.
For more quotes by Gladys West see THIS LINK.

Other Mathematicians born in USA
A Poster of Gladys West

References (show)

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  62. J Toussaint, Gladys West, the Black mathematician whose expertise led to the development of GPS, Al Día (28 February 2022).
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  63. M Wadland, Dr Gladys West, Mathematician Whose Work Made GPS Possible, Dies at 95. From segregated Virginia to global impact, her mathematics quietly changed how the world finds its way, The Zebra (18 January 2026).
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  64. A Washenko, Dr Gladys West, whose mathematical models inspired GPS, dies at 95, Engadget (Monday 19 January 2026).
    https://www.engadget.com/science/dr-gladys-west-whose-mathematical-models-inspired-gps-dies-at-95-234605023.html
  65. D Washington, Gladys West (1930-present), Bold Women in Science (Sourcebooks, 2025).
  66. G B West, Approximation of an Area by Use of Inscribed Conics (Doctoral dissertation, Virginia State College, 1955).
  67. G B West with M H Jackson, It began with a dream: Dr Gladys B West (IGWEST Publishing, 2020).
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  68. G B West, Smoothing of Geos 3 satellite radar altimeter data, J. Geophysical Research 84 (88) (1979), 4055-4066.
  69. G B West, SEASAT Satellite radar altimetry data processing system, NSWC Technical Report, Naval Surface Weapons Center Transfer Report (1981), 81-234.
  70. G B West, Mean Earth ellipsoid determined from SEASAT 1 altimetric observations, J. Geophysical Research 87 (B7) (1982), 5538-5540.
  71. G B West, Data processing system specifications for the system specifications for the GEOSAT satellite radar altimeter, NSWC Technical Report, Naval Surface Weapons Center Transfer Report (1986), 86-149.

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Written by J J O'Connor and E F Robertson
Last Update March 2026