Management faculty receives International Impact Award

Mike Pisani, Ph.D, faculty member in the Department of Management, has been awarded the 2024 International Impact award for his lifetime connected to international activities. This award recognizes faculty who go above and beyond what is expected of faculty for engaging at the international level with teaching, scholarly activity, or service.  

Pisani grew up in a rural community working for many years on harvests with migrant farmworkers from Mexico. As a young adult he studied in Mexico and volunteered in Central America. He teaches now because of the experiences he had growing up hoping to positively impact others. 

Pisani assists in the community development in Nicaragua (1990’s -early 2000’s) Haiti (2010’s), and El Salvador (2010’s – present) through the creation of a cooperative bakery, carpentry shop, and a bicycle shop. Pisani acts as a Pro-bono consultant to assist minimum wage adjustment, micro-entrepreneurship, and microfinance assessment. He also does international teaching and extensive research studies focused on international topics and countries. 

Most recently his studies focus on international consumer behavior of Paraguayans, business informality in the Americas, and the economic influence of China and the USA in the Americas. Pisani uses his research directly in the classroom through reading and discussion even involving cross-cultural teams from partners in Belize, Chile, Honduras, Mexico, and Paraguay. 

Pisani’s work has assisted many local communities, and he plans to continue teaching, researching, and engaging in international service so he can share and impact others.