The State University of New York system has awarded 2024 Windsor Central High School graduate and SUNY Brockport student Nicholas Pisano the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence (CASE), the highest honor the University can bestow upon a student.
“I'm pretty happy to have won the CASE Award.  It's a big achievement for me, but I'm happier for the people surrounding me. Brockport, in my mind, has one of the best and most supportive mathematics & honors departments I've ever seen. In my mind, I didn't win the award; we won the award,” said Pisano.

The award recognizes SUNY students who have successfully incorporated SUNY excellence into various aspects of their lives, including academics; leadership; diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice; research & development; campus involvement; civics & service, and the arts (creative or performing).

Among the myriad of academic activities Pisano has undertaken, he’s studied algebra the last two years and is writing a thesis pertaining to what’s called Non-Commutative Gröbner Basis. He and his professor are currently aiming to have this published in a couple of academic journals.

He is engaged in a pair of research projects. One explores the effectiveness of mathematical modeling in economics, and one examines a type of modeling problem called The Inverse Transport Problem.

He is also working on projects focusing on computational methods in abstract structures, mathematical economics, and modeling physics.

All told, Pisano has accelerated his studies at Brockport and is on track to graduate in May.

Outside of the classroom, Pisano has revived the Circle K at SUNY Brockport. Circle K is an international volunteering organization that is a subsidiary of the Kiwanis Club. Many colleges and universities have chapters that try to exercise Circle K's three pillars of service, leadership, and fellowship on their campus.

“We've hosted food drives during government shutdowns, cleaned pollution in the Erie Canal, aided events for Camp Abilities, helped set up and serve thousands of children during Christmas and Halloween Parades,” said Pisano, who is president of Circle K and the Math Club.  “My goal at Brockport was to leave the campus better than I found it, and I can only hope that I succeed.”

Pisano knows his success at Brockport is due, in part, to his time in Windsor.

“If I were to name all of the great teachers at Windsor who've helped me in the past, we'd be here for days. I'd like to name one in specific, that being Mr. Eric Haberli.  Mr. Haberli and I sometimes spent hours talking about higher physics and math. Sometimes, I'd go into his classroom during lunch just to do extremely difficult problems with him for the sake of doing them. At times, Mr. Haberli would offer me invaluable advice on courses, types of study, and a lot more,” said Pisano.

Pisano plans to go to graduate school to obtain his PhD. He has been accepted into Binghamton University’s PhD program, and is still waiting to hear from Syracuse University, Stony Brook University, University of Buffalo, and the University of Toronto.

“I'm hoping to study Analysis and Topology. The goal is to eventually become a professor, so I can teach and research the math I love,” said Pisano.

Pisano will receive his award at a ceremony on Monday, April 27, 2026, at the Albany Capital Center in Albany, NY.