Dr. Gladys West, the mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died at the age of 95. She passed away on January 17, 2026, reportedly surrounded by family at her home in Alexandria, Virginia. West’s contributions underpin a technology now embedded in global commerce, aviation, emergency response, and everyday navigation, though her role went largely unrecognized until late in her life. From Virginia Farmland to Federal Research Born Gladys Mae Brown on October 27, 1930, in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, she grew up on a small family