Dr. Gladys West: Navigating Her Way to the Invention of GPS Technology discovermagazine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from discovermagazine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Looking back on the legacies of some of the amazing women who have contributed to the field of technology at sea. Trailblazers in their fields, these women broke down barriers, defied expectations, and continue to inspire intelligence analysts daily across the maritime and defense community. GPS pioneer and U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory scientist Dr. Gladys West is one such memorable women.
Gladys Mae Brown was born in 1930 in Dinwiddie, Virginia, a rural farming community. She often said she pursued higher education to escape a hard life on a farm. When she learned that the valedictorian and salutatorian from her high school would earn a scholarship to Virginia State College (now University), she studied and graduated at the top of her class.