Meet Black Woman Who Invented The GPS (Global Positioning System) - Dr. Gladys West
December 13, 2020 1395
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The movement of people from one location to the other has
been the backbone of the interaction between societies and people. Over human
history, people have had to move from familiar to unfamiliar locations, for
various reasons.
The movement of people from one location to the other in
modern times have increased, and thanks to technology, such as GPS, fewer
people miss their way. Thanks to GPS, movement, and life in modern
transportation has become seamless.
Millions of the world's people use GPS (Global
Positioning System) for their day to day lives, but they do not know that it
was created by a black woman. Many would even argue that such a technological
marvel cannot be created by a Black woman. But that is the way certain people
have painted the Black race. But we are here to correct certain impressions.
A Black woman, Dr. Gladys West, from Virginia was the mastermind
in the creation and calibration of the GPS which the whole world enjoys today.
Her achievements have been swept under the rug for many
years and kept from the world. But just recently, nature has brought the
knowledge to light, and we are most proud of her.
On December 6, Dr. Gladys West, at the age of 87, was finally
recognized and inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of
Fame, by the United States Airforce. This was a remarkable victory for Black
excellence, and the event held at the Pentagon.
Her Amazing Story
Dr. Gladys West grew up in Dinwiddie County, south of
Richmond, in the late 1930’s early 1940’s. She was an intelligent young girl
who wanted to make a mark for herself and influence the world around her. She
was not comfortable with the life her parents lived as farmers, who picked
tobacco, corn, cotton, or as laborers working in nearby factories. She wanted
something different.
In a statement, she reaffirmed the above by saying that “I
realized I had to get an education to get out.”
At that point, she was a high school student. The school had
announced that the valedictorian and salutatorian of that year would be awarded
a scholarship to study at Virginia State College. She wanted that
scholarship so bad. She studied hard to finish at the top of her class and was
awarded the scholarship.
Her scholarship got her to study mathematics at Virginia
State College. After school, she taught in Sussex county for a period of two
years, and after that, she returned to school for her master's degree.
Her intelligence and expertise in mathematics was brought to
the fore when she was employed at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren
Division, in 1956. She was the second Black woman to work at the center.
At the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dr. Gladys West was
specialized in the collection of data from satellites. This task and expertise
of hers were what led to the development of the GPS (Global Positioning System).
After that, she was recommended by her supervisor Ralph
Neiman as the project manager for the Seasat radar altimetry project. The
project was actually the first satellite in human history to remotely sense
oceans and large water bodies. This led to a recommendation by Neiman for Dr
Gladys West to be Commended in 1979.
Her ingenuity placed on her some of the biggest projects of
the center. She was an excellent programmer, and her expertise was in large-scale computers. At the time, she was a project manager for data
processing systems that were used in the analysis of data from satellites.
She went ahead to publish a 60-page illustrated guide
titled: “Data Processing System Specifications for the Geosat Satellite Radar
Altimeter.”
Dr. Gladys West also published a Naval Surface Weapons Center
(NSWC) guide, which helped explain how to increase the accuracy of the
estimation of “geoid heights and vertical deflection.”
She rendered her services and expertise to the Naval Surface
Warfare Center Dahlgren Division for 42 years, and retired in 1998. But after
her service and invention, nothing was heard of her achievements till a member
of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, discovered her short biography.
They were shocked to find out the roles she played in the
advancement of humanity. Many around felt that her humble nature was one of the
factors contributing to the concealment of her achievements over time.
Her achievements were raised and praised, in 2017, by
Captain Godfrey Weekes, in a message about Black History Month. Capt. Weekes
was the then-commanding officer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren
Division.
In a noble remark, he wrote that “She rose through the
ranks worked on the satellite geodesy [science that measures the size and the shape of Earth] and contributed to the accuracy of GPS and the measurement of
satellite data, ... As Gladys West started her career as a mathematician at
Dahlgren in 1956, likely had no idea that her work would impact the world
for decades to come.”
In a statement of pride and astonishment for her own life and journey, Dr. Gladys West said that “I was ecstatic, ... I was able to come from Dinwiddie County and be able to work with some of the greatest scientists working on these projects.”
Her story is one that inspires us all to be great at
whatever we do. Her invention, just like many Black people who have come before
and after her, is a testament to the ingenuity of Africans and Blacks
worldwide.
It is important that Africans worldwide embrace the positive inspiration of women such as Dr. Gladys West, and resolve to become inventors
and creators in whatsoever field we find ourselves. Let us crave and work
towards excellence, and in that process bring development and pride to our
race.