Walter Zeh, 1925-2023, was an engineer and Navy veteran. He was raised in Queens, New York, and Chester, Connecticut. He attended Brooklyn Technical High School and Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, before enlisting in the Navy during World War II. Zeh was selected to be in the Navy's V-12 program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1945. During his time at RPI, Zeh played First Attack on the lacrosse team. He retired from the US Navy Reserve with the rank of Lieutenant.

After the war, he earned a Master's in Civil Engineering at RPI in 1952, and was employed as an engineer at Alcoa and General Dynamics (Electric Boat). In 1958, he joined Avco Space Systems Division as an engineer, working on the Apollo feasibility study, followed by the design, development, manufacturing, and testing of the Apollo Command Module Heat Ablator Shield. He was then promoted to Director of the Apollo Program Office. He obtained a Master's of Business Administration at New York University in 1980, and was self-employed in investments and stock market analysis.