Mathematician She navigated segregation to become an esteemed mathematician — and today, her work helps billions of people navigate the world. Gladys West, whose pioneering career contributed key elements to what became the GPS satellite system and was later acknowledged as a "hidden figure" of GPS, died on January 17 aged 95. West is credited with astounding accomplishments in mathematics, playing pivotal roles in charting orbital trajectories and creating accurate mathematical models of the Earth’s shape that would eventually be used by the GPS satellite orbit. But, as West admitted in 2020, she did not really rely on the ground-breaking system she helped create. "I would say minimal," she replied when asked if she used GPS.  "I prefer maps." Born Gladys Mae Brown in 1930, West grew up in the Jim Crow era, on a small farm in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, south of Richmond.…