Skip to content
BLACK MUZE INITIATIVE
Gladys West — Historical photograph
Historical photograph. Adrian Cadiz / Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, 181206-F-DT527-087 (2018). Image credit & source

Mathematics · Geodesy · Computer programming

Gladys West

1930–2026

STEMUS

West programmed computers to calculate a more accurate model of Earth's shape, accounting for gravity and other forces. Her satellite-geodesy work at the Navy's Dahlgren laboratory helped provide mathematical foundations used in GPS. She contributed as part of a larger scientific and engineering effort.[1],[2],[3]

Read this story

West programmed computers to calculate a more accurate model of Earth's shape, accounting for gravity and other forces. Her satellite-geodesy work at the Navy's Dahlgren laboratory helped provide mathematical foundations used in GPS. She contributed as part of a larger scientific and engineering effort.[1],[2],[3]

Local connection. National-to-local curriculum connection: compare a paper map of the Bayview neighborhood with a GPS map. No San Francisco residence or employment is claimed.

Impact reached: United States; Worldwide satellite navigation. (Impact describes who was reached; it is not a place of residence.)

Inquiry & making

Inquiry and making prompt

How could you describe the location of your classroom to someone who has never visited? Make a map with landmarks.

Places

Where Gladys was born, had roots or studied, and worked — distinguished from where their impact reached.

Born
Dinwiddie County, Virginia
Roots / education
Virginia State University, Petersburg, Virginia
Worked
Dahlgren, Virginia
Loading map…
Mapped places for Gladys West
RelationshipDocumented placeMap pointSources
BirthplaceDinwiddie County, VirginiaDinwiddie County, VACensus representative point · county-level, coarser[1][2][3]
Roots / educationVirginia State University, Petersburg, VirginiaPetersburg city, VACensus representative point[1][2][3]
WorkDahlgren, VirginiaDahlgren CDP, VACensus representative point[1][2][3]

Timeline

  1. 1930

    Born — Dinwiddie County, Virginia[3]

  2. 2026

    Died[2]

Gallery

Portrait plus 1 source-grounded contextual item. Every image links to its source record.

Gladys West: Historical photograph
Gladys West at her Air Force Hall of Fame induction, December 6, 2018Historical photograph.Credit: Adrian Cadiz / Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs, 181206-F-DT527-087 (2018).License / rights: Public domain in the United States, supported by the original photograph’s explicit Public Domain IPTC rights field and Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs creator/credit metadata. Historical educational reuse is supported; retain attribution and the agency non-endorsement notice.Source recordOriginal-quality file
1 / 2
Tip: focus the slideshow and use ← → keys.

References

  1. [1]
    U.S. Department of Defense: Navy Scientist Helped Develop GPS

    Supports: Dahlgren employment, Earth-shape modeling, GPS contribution; search-index text inspected because direct retrieval returned 403.

  2. [2]
    Virginia General Assembly: House Joint Resolution 91 (2026)

    Supports: Dinwiddie County origins, education, career, death January 17, 2026.

  3. [3]
    American Physical Society: Birth of Gladys West

    Supports: Birth year and geodesy context.

Last reviewed 2026-11-08 · Initial research edition · Record ID gladys-west. A curated, source-informed article — not openly editable and not independently scholar-reviewed. Corrections process.