Honoring Dr. Gladys West: The Dahlgren Mathematician Behind GPS

DAHLGREN, Va. — Naval leaders and the scientific community are remembering Dr. Gladys West, a groundbreaking mathematician whose decades-long career at Dahlgren helped make modern Global Positioning System technology possible. West died Jan. 17, 2026, at age 95.

West began her career in 1956 at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, now known as the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, shortly after graduating from Virginia State University. She worked at the installation for 42 years as a mathematician and computer programmer, contributing during a formative era of satellite research and defense technology.

At the time she was hired, West was the second Black woman ever employed at the Dahlgren site and one of only four Black employees overall. Her work included large-scale computer systems and advanced data-processing methods used to analyze satellite information. In the 1960s, she helped develop highly precise mathematical models of the Earth’s shape, including altimeter-based measurements that significantly advanced geodesy calculations.

Those models became essential to satellite positioning accuracy and later formed a foundation of GPS technology, now relied upon worldwide for navigation, aviation, emergency response, telecommunications and national defense.

For decades, West’s contributions remained largely behind the scenes. Though she was not featured in the Hidden Figures book or film, she is often referred to as one of computing’s “hidden figures” — a generation of Black women whose unrecognized work helped drive major scientific and technological breakthroughs.

That long-overdue recognition came later in life. In December 2018, West was inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., one of the highest honors awarded by the U.S. Air Force. The award formally acknowledged her role in early satellite geodesy and the technologies that enabled GPS.

Naval Support Activity South Potomac honored West in a public statement, saying it “honors the incredible legacy of Gladys West,” and noting that both she and her late husband, Ira West, were “tireless advocates for science, the Navy and the community.”

Even after retiring, West remained active in education and STEM advocacy. A 2021 photo shared by Naval Support Activity South Potomac shows the Wests sharing a laugh inside their vehicle while referencing the navigation system—an everyday reminder of the global reach of her life’s work.

You can read more about her 2018 induction into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame at spaceforce.mil, where officials noted: “Dr. Gladys West programmed an IBM 7030 Stretch computer to deliver increasingly precise calculations for the shape of the Earth.

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