01/20/2026
Dr. Gladys West, the brilliant mathematician whose groundbreaking work helped make modern GPS technology possible, has died at 95.
Born on a Virginia farm during the Jim Crow era, West defied the odds through academic excellence, becoming valedictorian of her high school class and earning degrees in mathematics that led her to a historic career at the Naval Surface Warfare Center.
As one of the first Black women hired there, her meticulous calculations and programming transformed satellite data into accurate models of the Earth — work that became the foundation of GPS technology used globally today.
Her legacy lives on every time we navigate a road, board a plane, or use a smartphone. A quiet pioneer whose impact changed the world.
Rest in power!
