Gladys Mae West, mother of modern navigation technology
Gladys Mae West born October 27, 1930
Gladys was born in rural Virginia in the 1030’s so had to work especially hard to get away from her agricultural roots. She was her high school’s valedictorian and had a talent for math and science in college. Gladys was hired by the US Navel Weapons Laboratory and there she created some of her most important calculations, including mathematical mode of earth’s shape that paved the way for modern GPS.