Gladys West is known for her contributions to mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth, and her work on the development of satellite geodesy models, that were later incorporated into the Global Positioning System.
23 Facts About Gladys West
2.
Gladys West was awarded the Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for the development of satellite geodesy models.
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Gladys West Mae Brown was born in Sutherland, Virginia, in Dinwiddie County, a rural county south of Richmond.
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Gladys West's family was an African-American farming family in a community of sharecroppers.
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Gladys West spent much of her childhood working on her family's small farm.
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Gladys West graduated as valedictorian in 1948, and received the scholarship.
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At VSU, Gladys West chose to study mathematics, a subject that was mostly studied at her college by men.
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Gladys West graduated in 1952 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics, and then taught math and science for two years in Waverly, Virginia.
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Gladys West returned to VSU to complete a Master of Mathematics degree, graduating in 1955.
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In 1956, Gladys West was hired to work at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia,.
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Gladys West was a computer programmer in the Dahlgren division, and a project manager for processing systems for satellite data analysis.
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Concurrently, Gladys West earned a Master's degree in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma.
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Subsequently, Gladys West began to analyze satellite altimeter data from NASA's Geodetic Earth Orbiting program, to create models of the Earth's shape.
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Gladys West became project manager for the Seasat radar altimetry project, the first satellite that could remotely sense oceans.
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Gladys West's work cut her team's processing time in half, and she was recommended for a commendation.
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In 1986, Gladys West published Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter, a 51-page technical report from The Naval Surface Weapons Center.
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Gladys West worked at Dahlgren for 42 years, and retired in 1998.
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Gladys West later completed a PhD in Public Administration at Virginia Tech by distance-learning.
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Gladys 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.
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Gladys West was selected by the BBC as part of their 100 Women of 2018.
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Gladys West met her husband Ira at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, where he worked as a mathematician.
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The Gladys West family went to Chapel on the Proving Ground every Sunday.
23.
Gladys 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.