Global positioning system biography
Global positioning system biography
Global positioning system equipment.
Gladys West
American mathematician (born 1930)
Gladys Mae West (née Brown; born October 27, 1930[1]) is an American mathematician.
She 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 (GPS).[2] West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018.
West was awarded the Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for the development of satellite geodesy models.[3][4]
Early life and education
Gladys Mae Brown was born in Sutherland, Virginia, in Dinwiddie County, a rural county south of Richmond.[2][5][6] Her family was an African-American farming family in a community of sharecroppers.
She spent much of her childhood working on her family's small farm.[7][8] As well as working on the farm, her mother worked in a tobacco