By Selena Hill, blackenterprise.com
Gladys West never knew that her work at a U.S. Navy base in Virginia back in the 1950s and ’60s would play a pivotal role in creating a popular form of technology that is now incorporated into cell phones, cars, and social media.
For 42 years, the 87-year-old mathematician worked with a team of engineers that developed the Geographical Positioning System, or GPS, before retiring in 1998. West’s sorority sister, Gwen James, recently discovered the contributions that West made in GPS technology and wanted to share the news with The Associated Press.
“Her story is amazing,” said James, a fellow member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, to The AP. “GPS has changed the lives of everyone forever. There is not a segment of this global society—military, auto industry, cell phone industry, social media, parents, NASA, etc.—that does not utilize the Global Positioning System.”
