Pixton was born in Binghamton, New York; his father, Dennis Pixton, is a retired professor of mathematics at Binghamton University. He grew up in Vestal, New York. While a student at Vestal Senior High School, he scored a perfect score on the American Mathematics Competition three times from 2002 to 2004.; ; He went on to the International Mathematical Olympiad in 2003 and 2004 to win consecutive gold medals.; ; ; IMO 2004 US Team Results in Athens, Greece
