- By Liam Sullivan
- In Community
Passing of Hall of Fame Alumna Gladys West, Jan 19, 2026
Folks,
We have been informed by Dr. Gladys West’s family that she died on Monday, with her family surrounding her. How special that it was on her hero’s, Mertin Luther King’s birthday.
Dr. West was a true Virginian who gave her all to her students in Mathematics and gave so much to the world and Aviation with her part in the development of GPS.
We will always honor her for all she gave us.
My favorite memory of Mrs. West was the day I called her to get information for the Hall of Fame induction in 2022. It was a Sunday, and I expected a family member to answer, but she did. I was surprised and responded “I didn’t expect you to answer the phone. Her answer was priceless: “Then, why did you call me?”…always a teacher/ always a student. Sue Baker
Legacy has her full obituary.
Dr. Gladys Mae West Born Oct. 1930 Sutherland, VA Inducted: 2022 Dr West is a mathematician whose 42-year career at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, spanned the analog to digital eras of scientific research, from 1956 to retirement in 1998. Her efforts there ranged over a wide variety of problems including the Seasat radar altimetry project for remote ocean sensing; modeling of Earth’s ellipsoidal shape. According to the Wikipedia entry on Dr. West, the model she developed ultimately led to (development of) the Global Positioning System (GPS). In 2018 she was inducted into the US Air Force Hall of Fame, by the Space Command, which called her one of the “so-called ‘Hidden Figures’ part of the team who did computing for the US military in the era before electronic systems.” At her retirement, her commanding officer said, “she likely had no idea that her work would impact the world for decades to come.” Always modest, Dr. West remarked: “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.’ ”
