Dr. Gladys West is the mathematician whose calculations made GPS possible — and most people have never heard her name. In this episode of the Knowledge Gumbo Podcast, host Alicia Thomas sits with one of Dr. West's most quietly powerful quotes and explores what it means to do work that matters without waiting for the world to notice.

Dr. West spent 42 years as one of the only Black women at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Virginia, building the precise mathematical models of the Earth's shape that satellite navigation still depends on today. Her most consequential work was done in the 1970s and 80s. She was not recognized for it until 2018. Alicia unpacks why that gap was no accident, and what Dr. West's story shares with other Black women whose contributions were buried — and what it means for us to name them now.

Key Takeaways

Precision is a form of devotion. Dr. West's Gladys West GPS legacy was built not on ambition for recognition, but on a daily commitment to getting the numbers right — a standard that left no room for error and no space for giving up.

Erasure is a pattern, not an exception. Dr. West's story sits alongside Alice Ball, Dorothy Lavinia Brown, and the hidden figures at NASA as part of a documented pattern: Black women building the systems the world relies on while credit goes elsewhere.

Lifelong learning is its own kind of defiance. After surviving two strokes, Dr. West completed her PhD at 70 and kept speaking to students about mathematics and possibility until her passing in January 2026.

In This Episode

[00:00] Welcome and episode format

[00:21] Dr. West's quote

[00:44] Background: From sharecropper's daughter to mathematician

[01:28] Career beginnings and returning to school for her master's

[01:56] Hired at the Naval Surface Warfare Center — one of four Black employees

[02:03] 42 years building the mathematical models behind GPS

[02:07] Reflection: What does it mean to get it "right"?

[03:07] The Earth is not a simple shape — what GPS actually requires

[03:53] The faithfulness of showing up for 42 years

[04:45] Recognized in 2018 — and why the delay was no accident

[05:07] The pattern: Hidden figures, Alice Ball, Dorothy Lavinia Brown