Walter Paepcke (1896–1960) was a U.S. industrialist and philanthropist prominent in the middle 20th century. A longtime executive of the Chicago-based Container Corporation of the America , Paepcke is best noted for his founding of the Aspen Institute and the Aspen Skiing Company in the early 1950s, both of which helped transformed the town of Aspen, Colorado into an international resort destination.