Faculty Spotlight: Markus Biehl Outside the Classroom

Writers: Fiona Woticky (MSCM candidate 2020) and Lucie Wang (MSCM candidate 2020)
Editor in Chief: David Wang (MSCM candidate 2020)

Bikes! Beers! Boulders!

Dr. Markus Biehl, Professor of Operations Management & Information Systems, shares three fun non-academic interests

Bikes

Typically riding to work on his motorcycle, it makes sense as to why Dr. Markus Biehl, a program faculty member for the Master of Supply Chain Management, was chosen to teach the Transportation and Logistics class at the Schulich School of Business. For him, his passion for vehicles started at a young age (in a stroller) and has “wheelie” taken off since then. One of his most memorable experiences was when he was motorcycling in the Palatinate area in Southern Germany. He calmly recounts driving around a curve way too fast, slipping, and still recalling this as an amazing trip.

Beers

Coming from Germany, we asked him what the biggest culture shock was living in Canada – and it turns out it’s the way we buy beer.  It is important to note that Professor Biehl loves his beer. As an undergrad student, he already had his own beer distribution company. Even now, he has a six-foot poster of an Erdinger Weissbier on the wall. He enjoys staring at it when he runs on the treadmill and enjoys drinking it after his run even more!

“The first time I tried to buy a beer in Canada, I felt like a criminal. I went to a beer store and there was no beer to be seen. I had to ask the person at the counter to go to the back and get me some beer. The whole process was just strange because in Germany you can get beer anywhere.”

Boulders

It is evident that Markus loves to travel. Moreover, while many professors look forward to sabbaticals as opportunities to travel, he takes this to an extreme. During one of his sabbaticals, he went hiking in the Himalayas and was hit by a boulder. He then had to ride on a mule for the rest of the trip!