Mathematician Dr Gladys West, whose work helped lay the foundation for modern global positioning systems (GPS), has died at the age of 95.

According to an article by Engadget, although her name was largely unknown outside scientific circles for decades, West’s contributions played a key role in a technology now essential to daily life, from navigation and aviation to emergency services and telecommunications.

West was born in 1930 in rural Virginia during the Jim Crow era. She excelled academically and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from Virginia State College, now Virginia State University. In 1956, she joined the United States (US) Navy’s research facility in Dahlgren, Virginia, today known as the Naval Surface Warfare Center, where she would spend more than four decades of her career.

During the 1970s and 1980s, West played a key role in developing sophisticated mathematical models that accurately described the shape of the Earth using satellite data. These calculations proved critical to improving satellite geodesy and ultimately became central to the development of GPS technology. She retired from the facility in 1998 after 42 years of service.

West’s work went largely unrecognised for much of her life, a fate shared by many women and people of colour in science and technology, according to engadget. That began to change in 2018, after she submitted a brief account of her career for a sorority event. The renewed attention led to major honours, including induction into the US Air Force Space and Missiles Pioneers Hall of Fame and recognition as Female Alumna of the Year by the HBCU Awards.

In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, West reflected on her career and her late-in-life recognition, revealing that despite her role in shaping GPS technology, she often preferred using paper maps when travelling.