Overview
- Her family announced her death on her official X account, saying she passed peacefully surrounded by loved ones.
- West joined the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren in 1956 and worked there for more than four decades before retiring in 1998.
- During the 1970s and 1980s, she built mathematical models of the Earth's shape from satellite data, correcting gravitational and tidal effects to achieve accurate positioning.
- Born in 1930 in segregated rural Virginia, she studied mathematics at Virginia State and pursued advanced degrees while overcoming racial and gender barriers.
- She received belated recognition, including induction into the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame in 2018 and the Royal Academy of Engineering's Prince Philip Medal in 2021.