Gladys West

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Gladys West (2018)

Gladys Mae West , (born Gladys Mae Brown in 1930 or 1931 ) is an American mathematician best known for her contributions to the mathematical modeling of the shape of the earth.

Early life and education

West was born in Dinwiddie County , Virginia to a farming family in a tenant community. After receiving a scholarship for first place in her high school grade, she studied mathematics at Virginia State College.

Career

In 1956, West began working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, where she was the second black woman to ever work there. She took part in an astronomical study that proved the regularity of Pluto's movement in relation to Neptune in the early 1960s .

West then began analyzing data from satellites and compiling altimeter models of the Earth's shape. Her supervisor, Ralph Neiman, recommended her as a project manager for the Seasat radar altimetry project, the first satellite that could record oceans from a distance. 1979 recommended Neiman West for inclusion. West was a programmer in Dahlgren's mainframe computer department and project manager for data processing systems for analyzing satellite data.

In 1986 West published Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar Altimeter, a 51-page technical report from the Naval Surface Weapons Center (NSWC). The guide was published to explain how to increase the accuracy of estimating “ geoid heights and vertical deflection,” topics of satellite geodesy . This was accomplished by processing the data generated by the radio altimeter on the Geosat satellite that went into orbit on March 12, 1984. West worked at Dahlgren for 42 years and retired in 1998.

Her contribution to GPS was revealed when a member of West's student fraternity Alpha Kappa Alpha read a brief biography West submitted for an alumni role.

West was selected by the BBC as part of the 100 Women series in 2018 . She was also inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018 , one of the Air Force Space Command's highest honors . She was one of the women who did math for the United States Armed Forces before electronic systems became available.

Private

She met her husband, Ira West, at the naval base, and they married in 1957. They have three grown children and seven grandchildren. West has lived in King George County, Virginia, since February 2018. In 2018, she received her PhD from Virginia Tech via distance learning.

Publications

Web links

personal data
SURNAME West, Gladys
ALTERNATIVE NAMES West, Gladys Mae (full name); Brown, Gladys (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American mathematician
DATE OF BIRTH 1930 or 1931