(Credit:U.S. Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) Gladys West and Sam Smith look over data from the Global Positioning System. [12] Concurrently, West earned a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma. West served the NSWC as Government & Special, Copyright 2023 Gale, part of Cengage Learning, Read the previous weeks Black History Month contributions here, Black Americans Who Made Entertainment History. Born in 1930 in rural Virginia, Dr. Gladys West was the daughter of Black sharecroppers and worked the fields as a child. West was a programmer in the Dahlgren Division for large-scale computers and a project manager for data-processing systems used in the analysis of satellite data. Dr. Gladys West invented the Global Positioning System, or GPS, and has finally received the recognition she deserves by being inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame by the United States Air Force, according to Business Ghana, in Accra. We would come in and sit at our desks and we would logic away, go through all the steps anyone would have to do to solve the mathematical problem, she explained. That ignited wide recognition and in 2018 she was inducted into the United States Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame, one of the military branchs highest honors. Gladys Mae West (ne Brown; born October 27, 1930[1]) is an American mathematician. In 1954, the Supreme Court had made a landmark decision on Brown vs. Board of Education, and ruled that American state laws that established racial segregation in public schools were unconstitutional. Performance & security by Cloudflare. Most of us use global positioning system (GPS) technology in one way or another on a regular basis to add a location to social media posts, or to ask the navigation system in our car to direct us to where we need to be. In her memoir, she recalls walking the three miles to the segregated, one-room schoolhouse "with rusty, decrepit furniture, sometimes leaky ceilings and always hand-me-down books.". Some of them failed tests and were given the exams over so they could stay in the Ph.D. program," she said in her memoir. The STEM fields are full of significant innovators who sadly never got the recognition they deserve. You know how you know that kind of thing is going on, but you wont let it take advantage of you? Shes since earned a number of honors, published an autobiography entitled It Began with a Dream and after retiring in 1998, earned a PHd in public and international affairs from Virginia Tech. [24]:9192, During her career, West encountered many hardships because of racism against African Americans. Illustration: Ewelina Gska. West was among the so-called "Hidden Figures" part of the team who did computing for the U.S. military in the era before electronic systems. I was so dedicated that I didnt care about missing the fun. Dr. Gladys West made groundbreaking contributions to the invention of GPS technology. [2], West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018, one of the highest honors bestowed by Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). In Wests work as a computer programmer, she specialized in large-scale computer systems and data-processing systems for the analysis of information obtained from satellites. Her contributions to GPS were only uncovered when a member of Wests sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, read a short biography West had submitted for an alumni function. proving her remarkable impact on science and the Air Force space program. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. [14][15] West's work cut her team's processing time in half, and she was recommended for a commendation. There, surrounded by sharecroppers, farmers, and tobacco factory workers, she decided early on that staying and working . After retiring from the Naval Surface Warfare Center (formerly the Naval Proving Ground) in 1998, West went back to school and, though she was delayed by a stroke, completed her Ph.D. at age 70. West soon started to get recognition as one of the hidden figures for her contribution to the development of GPS. [6][10] At VSU, West chose to study mathematics, a subject that was mostly studied at her college by men. But she didnt know her quiet work on a naval base would change lives around the world. When were going about our daily lives, we use GPS constantly but dont really think about what it is. It seems like society is more tolerant of short-term ailments. Its likely that Gladys West (1930) helped you arrive at your last destination safely and on time, thanks to one of the true marvels of our age, the Global Positioning System (GPS). , an experimental surveillance satellite that operated for 99 days, orbiting Earth. Cloudflare monitors for these errors and automatically investigates the cause. The Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee shared an image of West, writing, Today we salute Dr. Gladys West., February is Black History Month & to celebrate we'll be sharing the Black History Makers in STEM! She later returned for a masters degree in the subject, graduating in 1955after spending time teaching math in racially segregated Virginia schools and after applying for a series of jobs in Virginias segregated state government that were instead awarded to white men. There isnt a day that goes by that I dont consult GPS maps for something: scouting out restaurants to meet up for dinner; the closest Starbucks; alternate ways around a traffic jam. If You Have A Medical Condition, You May Be Eligible For A Clinical Trial. I strived hard to be tough and hang in there the best I could, she said. While her tuition was paid, she needed money for room and board. Although it took a large team of many people to accomplish this, perhaps the most instrumental single person in bringing all of this to fruition was Gladys West: the second Black woman ever hired (in 1956) at the Naval Proving Ground in Virginia. TheCommunity Foundation named a math scholarship fund for her and her husband, Ira West, who is also amathematician. [10][6] Afterward, she began another teaching position in Martinsville, Virginia. To her surprise, her sorority sisters were blown away. She met the man who would become her husband, Ira West but refused to be distracted and at first largely ignored him. Dr. Gladys West is inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame during a ceremony in her honor at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2018. And sure enough, when I graduated from high school, I got one. The scholarship allowed West to attend Virginia State College, a historically black university. In 1979, she received a commendation for her hard work from her departmental head. Thats right, Dr. Gladys West, a Black woman from Virginia was instrumental in creating the device we use today. I was just sitting there working on the computer and all of a sudden I started spinning around, West says. It was this information that would go on to help develop GPS. Her 42-year career at the navy base was largely unremarked. [18][13] The AFSPC press release hailed her as one of "the 'Hidden Figures' part of the team who did computing for the US military in the era before electronic systems", a reference to the 2016 book by Margot Lee Shetterly, which was adapted into the film Hidden Figures. They work in concert with ground stations that pinpoint the precise position of these satellites at any given time. She briefly took on another teaching position after graduating. She worked at Dahlgren for 42 years and retired in 1998. Public The rapid technological gains made during the 1970s and 80s in computer-processing power and aerospace hardware enabled the launch of the U.S. Department of Defenses GPS in the 1980s. She felt proud that she got the job, but knew the hard work had just begun. West soon started to get recognition as one of the "hidden figures" for her contribution to the development of GPS. You know how you know that kind of thing is going on, but you wont let it take advantage of you? Carol Brennan has been writing biographical entries for Cengage/Gale since 1993. West became a teacher but then returned to school for her masters. She received a commendation from her department head in 1979, which led to her becoming a project manager. If I can see the road and see where it turns and see where it went, I am more sure., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, 2023 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Despite her intellectual abilities and career success, West had long wrestled with the feeling that she was inferior. Gladys West was one of the mathematicians who wrote the programs run by enormous mainframe computers at the Dahlgren Division, at its Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren, Virginia. After communicating with a minimum of four separate satellites, they can pinpoint a users location to within 7 meters, with about 95% accuracy. If you've ever been on a road trip, lost in the . In the early 60s, West took part in an award-winning study that proved the regularity of Plutos motion relative to Neptune, according to a 2018 press release by the US air force. Gladys decided to take her own path to challenging the misperceptions of race and inequality. BDO is the worlds largest and most comprehensive online health resource specifically targeted to African Americans. West worked and studied hard, graduating as valedictorian from her high school. All rights reserved. Making something out of nothing involves breaking the laws of physics Making oxygen on the moon involves, The gender gap may be wide but these Indian women scientists are blazing a trail and changing. It's not entirely out of the question 2023 Northrop Grumman Corporation. Gladys West, ne Gladys Mae Brown, (born October 27, 1930, Sutherland, Virginia), American mathematician known for her work contributing to the development of the Global Positioning System (GPS). She hated the dirt but, while she worked, she kept her mind on the building behind the trees at the end of the farm. Her parents could help for the first year, but she would need to find funding for the others. Yes indeed, Dr. Gladys West invented the GPS or the Global Positioning System and has finally received the recognition she deserves by being inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame by the United States Air Force during a ceremony . She oversaw a team of five people. Photo: US Navy Dreaming Big and Working Hard It was this work that laid the foundations for GPS. But West wanted and knew she was destined for more. While the heat (or cold) can be a nightmare for your glowing dermis, smooth skin all year long is attainable! Together, she and Ira eventually had three children. And while we may not give our GPS a second thought once we've reached our destination, there is a fascinating story behind it. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. As a young African American girl living on a farm during the Great Depression, Gladys West discovered she had a gift for math. She spent much of her childhood working on her family's small farm. [7] She later completed a PhD in Public Administration at Virginia Tech by distance-learning. West was born in 1930 in Dinwiddie County Virginia, a rural community where her family had a small farm. As an African American her work went unrecognized for many years, but she is now known for her work developing the technology that led to the Global Positioning System (GPS). You never think that anything you are doing militarily is going to be that exciting. West didn't have a car and couldn't find Dahlgren on a map, and feared that they would reject her after the interview because of her race, so she decided to wait to hear back from other applications. We never thought about it being transferred to civilian life, so that was a pleasant surprise., Wests contributions went unrecognised not just by herself, but others too. West's model ultimately became the basis for the Global Positioning System (GPS). There she met Ira V. West, another Black mathematician on the base; the couple married in 1957 and had three children. What an inspiring woman! Ask me anything! West and her colleagues could then form GEOSAT a satellite program that created computer models of the planet's surface. 7 talking about this. I had no idea., Blue Marble Geographics CEO Patrick Cunningham wrote: I learned something today. Outside the base, there were sit-ins to desegregate restaurants and places of transport. 1 of 3. She majored in math and started her professional life as a teacher before earning a masters degree in math. At that time, there were still no real rivals to US dominance in the world and even then . '"[2], As an alumna of Virginia State University, West won the award for "Female Alumna of the Year" at the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Awards in 2018. Nine times out of 10 they werent completely right so you had to analyze them and find out what was different to what you expected, West said. She helped develop technology that contributed to the creation of the Global Positioning System, or GPS, which revolutionized modern society. In December 2018, Dr. Gladys West was inducted into theAir Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame, proving her remarkable impact on science and the Air Force space program. If shes not writing, she is either at yoga or walking her dachshund. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Dr. Gladys West is inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame during a ceremony in her honor at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6, 2018. She was hired to do programming and coding for the huge machines. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. She wants more to be done to encourage underrepresented groups through scholarships and tailored training programmes. They achieved great things but didnt receive due credit because they were women of color (and often specifically Black women). While taking a road trip, looking for that hot new restaurant or looking for your new office building, what tool has come in handy more than a Global Positioning System (GPS)? Click to reveal From there, she continued to refine terrestrial, gravitational and tidal models, all of which eventually became the foundation of GPS, or global positioning system. Thats why Dr. Gladys Wests contributions were revolutionary. . Albert Einstein is, of course, a household name, and GPS wouldnt exist without him and his crucial theories of special and general relativity. Dr. Gladys West is one of STEM's hidden trailblazers. It was only when a member of her university sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, read a short biography West had submitted for an alumni function that her achievements were brought into the spotlight. But, she was a government employee and not allowed to join the protests or risk losing her job. She hoped that, by doing it to the best of her ability, she could chip away at the stigma black people faced. Jan 19, 2018. Naval Weapons Laboratory. Schools In her memoir, West recounts how while earning her Ph.D. at VPI, she assumed her fellow counterparts many of them highly-educated white men would be smarter than her. It was designed to collect data on elements of the ocean, including wave heights, icebergs and temperatures. It could make it easier for you to keep up a healthy lifestyle, both emotionally and physically. Pilot Sedode-January 1, 2019. She didnt have much time to celebrate. And now were getting a little bit more desire to pull up everyone else thats made a difference.. Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month. Abandoning low-paying work as a schoolteacher, she returned to Virginia State to earn her masters degree, and in 1956 landed a prized job as a civilian employee of the U.S. military at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia. The job offered twice the salary of teaching position. 4 mo. These models are what helped make the GPS an accurate tool. She also served as the project manager for Seasat, which was the first satellite to carry out remote sensing of Earths oceans. In 1956, she began her career at the U.S. Dr. Gladys West is one of STEMs hidden trailblazers. In between earning her degrees, she tried finding a job with the government; however, she was unsuccessful due to racial segregation and sexism. In 1952 she graduated from Virginia State College with a Bachelor of Science degree . Copyright2023, BlackDoctor, Inc.All rights reserved. I just never thought about it. Naval Proving Ground a weapons lab in Virginia. You're thinking, 'I've got to get this right. "GPS Only Exists Because Of Two People," reads a 2021 Forbes headline, "Albert Einstein And Gladys . From finding your local supermarket, checking your directions if you get lost or mapping out your daily commute to avoid traffic, GPS is with us everywhere we go. But they were doing something similar, she says. She grew up in Virginia in the 1930s, and as a young black girl, she had limited options for her future. Journalist, entrepreneur and mom, Scotty likes to say the automotive business found her, she didn't pursue it. Since then, articles about West have appeared, students have done class reports on her and she has been officially recognized by the Virginia Senate. The hard work started before daybreak and lasted well into the blistering heat of the afternoon. The military base was grey, and people were mingling before starting work, laughing and drinking coffee. [7][5] They have three children (Carolyn, David and Michael), and seven grandchildren. Virginia State College which is now Virginia State University. Did Sea Creatures Inspire Mermaid Folklore or Are Mermaids Real? 10 Body Lotions For Black Skin, BlackDoctor.org Advertising and Sponsorship Policy. To help support the investigation, you can pull the corresponding error log from your web server and submit it our support team. The inventor of GPS has made it easy for so many of us to travel on a whim, navigate an unfamiliar place like a local or tour a city where we dont speak the language: just pop in your destination and go. , Dr. Gladys West, was a true pioneer who pushed past racial barriers and contributed to the invention of the GPS. Being hired solely on her qualifications, with a salary that would eventually help her support her family, was a rare find for a black woman at that time. In December 2018, Dr. Gladys West was inducted into the, Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame. [2][5][6] Her family was an African-American farming family in a community of sharecroppers. Without her curious spirit and quest for knowledge, she may never have ended up where she needed to be. I really loved the movie and I didnt know that that was going on with them.
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