Gladys quickly rose through the ranks, receiving commendations for her hard work and becoming project manager for the Seasat radar altimetry project, the first satellite that could monitor the oceans. One of her first major projects was the Naval Ordinance Research Calculator, an award-winning program using hundreds of hours of computer calculations, which often had to be double-checked for errors by hand, to calculate the regularity of Pluto’s motion relative to Neptune. So, just like in school, Gladys decided to form her own kind of rebellion by being the best worker she could and showing what Black people are capable of. And she was one of only four Black employees.” This was during the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, and while she and her soon-to-be husband Ira West (they married in 1957) kept an eye on the goings on, they were barred from participating due to their government work. According to The Guardian, “this made her only the second Black woman to be hired to work as a programmer at the base. A few years later, Gladys attended Virginia State, where she earned a master’s in mathematics in 1955.Īfter graduation, she was offered a job as a computer programmer and coder at Naval Proving Ground (now Naval Surface Warfare Center) in Dahlgren, Virginia, in 1956. In 1952, she graduated with her bachelor’s in mathematics and began teaching. To pay for room and board (which the scholarship didn’t cover), she took a part time job babysitting for one of her math teachers. She chose to attend Virginia State College (now University), a historically Black university and majored in math because it was a respectable subject. Gladys buckled down and she succeeded in becoming Valedictorian of her high school class and earning one of the two full scholarships. Luckily, the state of Virginia announced plans to give college scholarships to the two top students from her year. Like her parents, she tried to save, but it was slow going. She quickly showed unusual aptitude and her parents, wanting a better life for her, began saving money to send her to college.īut as happens to so many people, unexpected bills kept depleting their savings and Gladys quickly realized she would have to pay her own way. She attended a small red, one-room school house where seven years of Black students were all taught together. From an early age she understood that if she wanted to do more than work the land for the rest of her life, she’d have to study hard in school. Gladys Brown was born in Sutherland, Virginia, in 1930 to Nolan and Macy Brown, field and tobacco factory workers in a rural town populated mostly by sharecroppers. Without her, we’d all still be using paper maps to find our way around. Next time you fire up Google Maps or ask your GPS how to get somewhere, say a word of thanks to Dr.
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