A HUDDERSFIELD author and a brave cancer sufferer are to be honoured.

Joanne Harris, who wrote the bestselling novel Chocolat, and cancer charity fundraiser Jane Tomlinson will be among recipients of honorary degrees from Huddersfield University.

Staff and students nominated people they felt had achieved great things.

The nominees are not all local, but have local connections or involvement in a subject on which the university prides itself.

A panel of top university staff chose who would receive degrees. They will be presented at a ceremony in November.

Phil Williams, the university's head of public relations, said: "This year's honorary graduates reflect the wide range of values espoused by the university. We are pleased to be able to recognise their varied achievements in this way."

Joanne Harris, 36, who lives at Almondbury, will become an honorary Doctor of Letters.

The former Leeds Grammar School teacher is best known for Chocolat, which became a film starring Johnny Depp and Juliet Binoche.

The Bishop of Manchester, the Rt Rev Nigel McCulloch, formerly Bishop of Wakefield, will become a Doctor of Civil Law.

He was born and educated in Liverpool and was on Huddersfield University's governing council until last year.

He once conducted Brighouse and Rastrick Brass Band and is affiliated to many public service bodies and charity organisations.

Mrs Tomlinson, 38, of Rothwell near Leeds, will also become a Doctor of Civil Law.

The mother-of-three has terminal cancer and is known for raising £110,000 for Cancer Research UK through tests of fitness, including the London Marathon, a triathlon and the Great North Run.

Another figure honoured for humanitarian work is John Murgatroyd, of Mirfield, who was matron of Kirkwood Hospice at Dalton from its creation in 1987 until his retirement last year.

Mr Murgatroyd, 62, also receives a Doctor of Civil Law degree.

He was a plumber before qualifying as a nurse and then a senior nurse manager.

He was awarded the Examiner's Services to the Community Award last year.

James Dillon, one of the UK's leading composers, will receive a Doctor of Letters degree.

The Glasgow-born, 53-year- old self-taught composer spent his teenage years in Huddersfield, studying at the then King James's Grammar School, Almondbury.

He works closely with the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and is known abroad as the leading British composer of his generation.

Entrepreneur George Buckley will become a Doctor of Science.

Mr Buckley, from a steelworking family in Sheffield, gained a degree in electrical and electronic engineering and a PhD from the former Huddersfield Polytechnic in the 1970s.

He became chairman and chief executive of the multi-billion-dollar Brunswick Corporation, a leisure equipment firm in the top 300 United State companies.

Another business tycoon, Roger Bale, will receive a newly introduced degree - Doctor of Business Administration - for contributing to the university's development. Mr Bale sponsors the university's Chair in Entrepreneurship and helped establish Huddersfield Business Generator and the university's alumni society.

Academic figures in the honorary list are Prof Stephen Ley and Prof Leslie Wagner.

Dr Ley was recently president of the Royal Society of Chemistry and is the UK's leading organic chemist.

He will receive a Doctor of Science degree.

Prof Wagner recently retired as Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Metropolitan University.

He will receive a Doctor of Civil Law degree for his prominent work both in academic circles and in the Jewish community