Using your GPS to guide your springtime travels? Thank DR. GLADYS WEST. Born in rural Virginia, education provided her with the means to escape a future of working in fields or a factory. Valedictorian of her high school, she secured a scholarship to Virginia State College where she studied mathematics, an unusual subject for women in the 1950s. After teaching for a few years, she became only the second black woman to be hired at the Naval Surface Warfare Center. Dr. West analyzed data from satellites and, over time, created the math for an accurate geodetic Earth model—the foundation for the GPS satellite system.
Read more of her story in this BBS article.
You can find more information related to her life at A Mighty Girl.