Lesson 35: "When you’re working every day, you’re not thinking, 'What impact is this going to have on the world?' You're thinking, 'I've got to get this right.'"
Did you use a GPS app this week? Thank pioneer Gladys Mae West. This brilliant mathematician and satellite modeler is pretty much the reason we even have GPS technology. Born in 1930 Virginia to tobacco sharecroppers, she opted out of such a life and pursued education with the same matter-of-fact quiet determination that has since marked her entire life. Finding most of her high school and college subjects to be disappointingly easy (valedictorian at Virginia State University, at which she later also received her Masters), she dove into mathematics as she thought that field was likeliest to offer the greatest challenges.
Dr. West's career is mostly anchored in the research and development at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Dahlgren, Virginia, where she was one of the few women hired by the military to do advanced technological work --also the second black woman hired and the fourth black employee overall. One of those other employees, Ira West, became her husband in 1957. During the early 1960s, she was commissioned to support research around Pluto's motion relative to Neptune. From the mid-70s to the 80s, her computing work on a geodetic Earth model led to what may properly be described as the first GPS orbit.
(When I learned that my father-in-law worked with Dr. West during his stint at Dahlgren, I of course eagerly pumped him for rich stories and dazzling anecdotes --unfortunately their respective departments' roles didn't intersect beyond very pleasant chitchat in the break room. [grin] I guess sometimes the best tales really ARE the simplest...)
Due to her accomplishments Dr. West is frequently mentioned in the same breath as the "Hidden Figures" Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, and Katherine Johnson (see Lesson #6 in this series). At the age of 88, despite recent health difficulties that include breast cancer, a quadruple bypass, and a stroke, she nevertheless completed her PhD in public administration from Virginia Tech.
"I think I did help. We have made a lot of progress since when I came in, because now at least you can talk about things and be open a little more. Before, you sort of whispered and looked at each other, or something, but now the world is opening up a little bit and making it easier for women. But... they still gotta fight."