Mike Score, president of Hantz Farms, LLC, recently received the Distinguished Academic Staff Award from Michigan State University, Feb. 9 at the State of the University Address and the Awards Convocation at the Wharton Center on the MSU campus.

Score is receiving the award after serving with MSU Extension as an Agricultural Educator, where he held the position of Innovation Counselor with the MSU Product Center. He is now president of the Detroit-based Hantz Farms, LLC, which seeks to create the world's largest urban farm on underutilized land in the city of Detroit.  The for profit venture aims to transform Detroit into a destination for fresh, locally grown natural foods, create a viable, beautiful  environment that will enhance  the City, attract tourism, increase the tax base, create jobs and greatly improve the quality of life in Detroit.

"The Hantz Group is very pleased to have Mike Score serving as president of Hantz Farms," says John Hantz, CEO, the Hantz Group.  "Mike has done some remarkable work at Michigan State University before joining our team.  The Distinguished Academic Staff Award is surely deserved and demonstrates how important his work and contributions can be."

Score is a graduate of MSU, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in crop and soil sciences in 1980.

Before returning to his alma mater, Score served in a broad range of professional assignments. He was involved with international agricultural development in the Republic of Zaire (Congo) for over four years.  Upon his return to the United States, he spent 9 years as an Educator with the University of Kentucky, where he received a Master of Arts in rural sociology in 1997.  While working through MSU Extension, Score assisted more than 200 entrepreneurs in efforts to build sustainable communities through food system business development.