Gladys Mae Brown West
Personal Information
Born: 1930
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
Virginia State College (now Virginia State University) BS 1952 & MA 1955, both in Mathematics University of Oklahoma 2nd MA Public Administration 1973 Virginia Polytechnic Institute PhD Public Administration & Policy Affairs 2000
Professional Life
Field of Study: Mathematics
Institution/Corporation: US Naval Proving Grounds (now Naval Support Facility Dahlgren
Degrees & Memberships: Member: Alpha Kappa Alpha, Gideons International
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 2018, Recognized by Virginia General Assembly for her contributions to GPS 2018, Air force Space & Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame 2018, named 1 of the 100 Women, BBC 2018, Female Alumna of the year Award, Historically Black Colleges & Universities 2021, Webby Lifetime Achievement Award 2021, Prince Philip Medal, UK Royal Academy of Engineering 2021, NCWIT Pioneer in Technology Award National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame named to Dominion Energy Strong Men & Women 2022, Star on DOT Walk of Fame
Achievements: development of satellite geodesy models; worked on Naval Ordnance Research calculator (NORC) & designed program to determine the movements of Pluto in relation to Neptune (called Project 29V); project manager of radar altimetry data processing project (SEASAT) which was an experimental US ocean surveillance satellite designed to provide data on a wide array of oceanographic conditions & features including wave height, water temperature, currents, winds, icebergs & coastal characteristics; projects resulted in GEOSAT, a satellite programmed to create computer models of Earth's surface & could calculate orbits of satellites, ultimately led to GPS; autobiography with M.H.Jackson "It Began With a Dream"
Developed satellite geodesy models leading to GPS
Was one of NASAs Hidden Figures
Designed a program to determine the movements of Pluto in relation to Neptune (Project 29V)
Was the program manager for Seasat, an ocean surveillance satellite
Her parents were farmers in a sharecropper community
Was her high school valedictorian; received a full scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University)
Initially worked as a teacher in racially segregated schools
Applied for many government jobs but they were given to white men
1956, 4th black employee hired at US Naval Proving Grounds in Dahlgren, VA
Obtained a PhD in Public Administration at age 70 after recovering from a stroke
As a child worked on the family farm; saw education as a way out of farm work
Worked at Dahlgren 42 years