Hank Yochum

Associate Dean of the College
Professor of Engineering and Physics
Chair of the Student Advancement Committee

P | 434-381-6357
E | hyochum@sbc.edu
O | Guion Science Center | Lower Level, 04

B.S., Physics | College of Charleston
Ph.D., Physics | Wake Forest University

Prior to joining SBC, Professor Yochum was an engineer/member of technical staff at Lucent Technologies/OFS Specialty Photonics. Yochum has research interests in experimental condensed matter physics and nanotechnology. He is particularly interested in the design and characterization of nanostructured optical devices and defects in optical materials. He recently co-authored a textbook, Instrumental Analysis, for Oxford University Press.

Yochum is also active in middle school science teacher education. He has received funding from NSF, the Jeffress Foundation and the State Council on Higher Education of Virginia. Yochum’s hobbies include snowboarding and playing with his son. His teaching duties include the Technology and Society engineering design course, Circuits, Systems Modeling and Controls, Mechatronics, and Capstone Design.

Bethany Brinkman

Associate Professor of Engineering
Honors Summer Research Program Director
Member of the Student Advancement Committee

P | 434-381-6104
E | bbrinkman@sbc.edu
O | Guion Science Center | First Floor, 127A

B.S., Civil Engineering | Virginia Tech
M.S., Civil Engineering | University of Minnesota
Ph.D., Civil Engineering | University of Minnesota

While completing her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, Professor Brinkman researched temporal and spatial variations in natural organic matter and how these variations impact water treatment. She also spent some time as a consulting engineer working on the implementation of ultrafiltration membranes for water utilities. Her current research interests include feed-forward control systems, pilot scale treatment, engineered wetlands, organic matter dynamics and historic brick structures. Brinkman enjoys teaching Introduction to Engineering and environmental engineering electives.

Professor Brinkman is the point of contact for the Honors Program.

Coleen Catalon

Academic Assistant

P | 434-381-6186
E | coleenc@sbc.edu
O | Benedict Hall | First Floor

Christopher Penfield

Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Member of the Student Advancement Committee

P | 434-381-6312
E | cpenfield@sbc.edu
O | Gray Hall | Second Floor, 215

B.A., Philosophy | Haverford College
M.A., Philosophy | The New School for Social Research
Ph.D., Philosophy | Purdue University

Professor Penfield is the co-editor of the book “Between Foucault and Derrida” (2016) and the author of several articles on, or related to, post-war French philosophy, including those appearing in “Foucault Studies” (2014), The Cambridge Foucault Lexicon (2014), “Tate Research” (2016) and “Understanding Foucault, Understanding Modernism” (2017). He is translating Gilles Deleuze’s 1985-1986 Foucault Seminars on a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant. Penfield’s primary research interests include the topics of political, social and ethical agency in the philosophical areas of modern and contemporary European philosophy (from Kant to the present) and critical theory (broadly construed). His philosophical and teaching interests also include the history of Western philosophy (especially ancient Greek and early modern philosophy), ethics, philosophy of art (particularly philosophy of literature and philosophy of painting), and philosophy of mind and philosophical psychology.

Please refer to Professor Penfield’s CV for more information.

Kathleen Placidi

Faculty Grants Officer
Member of the Student Advancement Committee

P | 434-381-6596
E | kplacidi@sbc.edu
O | Fletcher Hall | First Floor