Kenneth D. Cashin, 91, of Lexington, professor emeritus of Chemical Engineering, died April 6.
Born in Lowell, he attended Worchester Polytechnic Institute in 1940, but left to join the U.S Navy Radio and Radar Unit in 1944. He returned to WPI in 1946 to complete his bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
He joined the faculty in 1948 as an assistant professor and initiated what became the Department of Chemical Engineering. During a sabbatical year he completed his work for a doctorate at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
From 1968-70, he took a leave of absence to establish the chemical