Obituary: Kenneth Cashin, professor emeritus of Chemical Engineering

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 engineering department at the College of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

He later served as associate dean of the school of engineering for several years before his retirement in 1985.

He leaves his sons, Arthur H. III of Nashville, Tenn., and David G. of Columbia, S.C., and his daughter, Linda C. Hemphill of Lexington, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 11 at 1 p.m. at Grace Chapel, 59 Worthen Rd., Lexington.

Visiting hours are Wednesday, April 10 from 4-8 p.m. at the Douglass Funeral Home, 51 Worthen Rd., Lexington.

Donations in his memory may be made to College Church, 58 Pomeroy Terrace, Northampton 01060 or Mass General Hospital Heart, Stroke and Vascular Institute, 55 Fruit St., Boston 02114.