For thousands of students and  their families it is one of the  proudest weeks of their life ... and  it starts in Huddersfield today with  a major procession through the  town centre.

Around 4,500 students will this week  take part in Huddersfield University’s  graduation ceremonies. This year’s July  ceremonies will run for the longest period  ever of seven days, starting today and  culminating on Tuesday, July 23 although  there will be no weekend ceremonies.

From 2.10pm today there will be a  colourful procession of students and staff –  including many of the honorary award  recipients – and headed by the Skelmanthorpe Brass Band.

The procession will wind its way through  the town. It starts from Nelson Mandela  Corner  next to the Central Library via  King Street, New Street and Princess Street  to Huddersfield Town Hall.

Students who have  achieved Bachelor and  Masters degrees, plus  other qualifications  and doctorates in a  huge range of subject  areas, will wear academic robes and  headgear as they attend  the sequence of ceremonies at Huddersfield Town Hall and the  university’s own St Paul’s Hall.

The university will also welcome a roster  of eminent people who will receive Honorary Doctorates of the University at the  ceremonies.

These include actor Robert Powell and  Ashley Jackson.

Robert Powell, who is to receive an  honorary award, is one of Britain’s favourite actors.

He found fame in the 1977 TV series  Jesus of Nazareth.  He starred in the 1978  remake of The Thirty Nine Steps and  reprised the role of its central character  Richard Hannay in a 1980s TV series.   Recent TV roles have included a six-year  stint in BBC1’s Holby City.

Ashley Jackson’s evocative and distinctive paintings of brooding moorlands are  some of the best-known images of the  Yorkshire landscape and have been exhibited around the world. 

His determination to make art accessible  to all has meant that he furnished illustrations for a BT phone book cover and a  Yorkshire Bank debit card. 

He has made many television appearances, including the long-running YTV  series A Brush with Ashley. 

Others to receive special awards are:

 Michael Woodhead who  is Huddersfield-born and a long-serving member of  its University’s Council.  He began work as  a stockbroker’s clerk when he left school  and later built up Huddersfield firm  Battye, Wimpenny and Dawson into one of  the north’s major firms in its field.  He  established the Michael Woodhead Charitable Trust, which has donated many thousands of pounds to a variety of deserving  causes.  He returned to business life as  chairman or director of four public companies and chaired the Prince’s Trust in  Yorkshire.

 Professor Colin Carlile is a leading  experimental physicist currently playing a  central role in the development of a major  new research facility – the European Spallation Source (ESS) at Lund in Sweden.  This is the latest in a sequence of key  appointments at important scientific sites  and institutes that have been held by Prof  Carlile during a career that began in the  early 1970s.

 Former Huddersfield University student  Fatou Lamin Faye who  has risen to be an education minister in her  native Gambia.  In  1996, after embarking  on a successful career  in training and lecturing, she came to the  UK for Master’s degree  study at the University of Huddersfield. 

 Huddersfield University graduate  Kavita Oberoi who is now established as  one of Britain’s leading entrepreneurs. Her  motivational skills have led to her making  several TV appearances in high profile  programmes such as The Secret Millionaire.  After graduation she landed a job with  Bayer Pharmaceuticals.  After eight years,  she   founded Oberoi Consulting and in  2009   was highlighted by HBOS as one of  Britain’s 100 Most Entrepreneurial  Women.

 Duncan Druce is a composer and  violinist who has lived in the Holme Valley  for 30 years and lectured at Huddersfield  University.  In the 1960s he came to prominence as a performer of contemporary  music. He has also achieved considerable  success for his reconstructions of incomplete or lost music by composers such as  Mozart, Bach and Beethoven.  His  acclaimed version of Mozart’s Requiem  has had many performances and recordings.

Ty Unwin studied music at Huddersfield University and did his first TV commission while completing his degree.  His  career then led him to become one of the  UK’s top composers of film and TV music  including penning the soundtrack to the  BBC’s Vets in the Wild.  He has worked as a  keyboardist for a roster of artists, including  Roger Daltrey, Alice Cooper, Paul Young  and New Model Army.