After a fascinating job in the art world, Montreal man ready to pursue an MBA

New student was in charge of transport logistics at Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

Supply-chain specialists are experts in where different parts are coming from and headed to in the manufacturing process. One of our new students worked the transport logistics of items that are worth millions of dollars.

Nicholas Magnan, who is starting the full-time MBA program, most recently was the transport logistics manager at the Montreal Musueum of Fine Arts .

"I was in charge of the incoming and outgoing artwork at the museum. It was unique,” he says of his yearlong work experience before coming to ASU. He has an undergraduate degree in business from the University of Quebec.

If we had a big show coming up, I was in charge of making sure all the incoming artwork arrived in time, making sure everything was going well at the airport — how many trucks, how many planes, what would the insurance be like, and any special paperwork.

Magnan also worked in logistics at Lacoste and Coty before taking the museum position as a change of pace before graduate school.

“I like to solve problems and look at processes, and I like looking at numbers to see how we can improve the business,” he says.

Magnan answered some questions from ASU Now:

Question: What are you most excited to experience at ASU?

Answer: I am most excited to meet and develop relationships with my classmates and to grow my network. I love the fact that there are so few of us in the MBA program that we will get to know each other fast and become a big family.

Q: What talents and skills are you bringing to the ASU community?

A: Being a positive and analytical person are the top two skills that I bring to ASU, and I know my classmates will appreciate those strengths. I'm open-minded as well, which is important when you move to another country, especially considering ASU has such a large international student base.

Q: What’s your favorite TV show right now?

A: I just finished watching a show called “Money Heist,” which was originally produced in Spain. It has some interesting twists that make the show different than others that I've watched recently. I'm also looking forward to the next season of Game of Thrones.

Q: What’s one interesting fact about yourself that only your friends know?

A: Ninety percent of my lunches in the past five years have included some form of chicken! It is so good and healthy. I can already tell you that my lunches for the next two years will contain a lot of chicken.

Q: If someone gave you $40 million to solve one problem in our world, what would you choose?

A: There are so many problems to choose from but, to me, the backbone of any society is education. A better education can only lead to an improvement in a multitude of issues ranging from health problems to poverty, so I would definitely put that money toward education.