Gladys Mae West

Gladys Mae West the Map of the Future

Gladys Mae West was born in Sutherland, Virgina. Her family worked as sharecroppers. West wanted to pursue a path different from that of her family, so she decided to attend Virgina State College to study mathematics.

Gladys Mae West
Born 1930Photo source https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_West

She was motivated to solve a problem she faced while living in Queens, New York. Police response times were too long for the community to adequately receive the support they needed. Ironically, black communities have long endured the dichotomy of being over-policed but underserved.

Brown and her husband developed their security system as a means of self-protection and emergency alert to help homeowners (eventually business owners began using it too).

Marie Van Brittan Brown we thank you for your innovation and responding when public resources would not. We honor you.

Receipts (aka sources)

https://patents.google.com/patent/US3482037

The earlier part of West’s post-college career was spent working in education. She eventually got opportunities to work as a programmer and project manager for satellite data processing.

West was able to apply her knowledge and experience with satellite data analysis to successfully put together a model of the Earth’s shape on the Seasat altimetry project.

West spent the next decade developing algorithms and calculations for computers to yield an accurate depiction of the Earth’s shape. This work was used to pave the way for Global Positioning Systems.

So every time you use GPS on your phone or in your car, you have Gladys Mae West to thank. I have a horrible sense of direction so I am truly grateful for West, without her I’d be lost, literally.

We honor you Gladys Mae West.

Receipts (aka Sources)