Oscar winner Jenny Beavan thrilled with Huddersfield honorary doctorate
Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan OBE was thrilled with her honorary doctorate from the University of Huddersfield as she joined hundreds of students to celebrate Graduation Week on campus.
Chief Constable of West Yorkshire John Robins and Ed Anderson CBE, Lord-Lieutenant of West Yorkshire, were also awarded honorary doctorates at ceremonies in the university’s Oastler Building.
Jenny, who has won Academy Awards for films as diverse as A Room With a View, Mad Max: Fury Road and Cruella, also met Costume with Textiles graduates Ellie Johns, Hannah Dixon, Charlotte Edwards, Zara Williams and Anya Carmichael at the Lawrence Batley Theatre where the students showed off their work from the final year of their degrees. She also visited the Barbara Hepworth Building to view the facilities and equipment available to the students.
She also revealed that she had Huddersfield alumni alongside her when working on a new film adaptation of Alan Bennett’s The Choral in West Yorkshire, which wrapped just a couple of weeks ago.
“What an extraordinary honour, and I cannot thank you enough for thinking of me,” she told her graduates, family and staff graduation ceremony. “It is particularly wonderful, because as a costume designer we are often quite low in the pack - the costume crew are often way down on the list of a filming unit.
Study Costumes with Textiles at the University of Huddersfield
“I had an amazing morning going around the studios, the incredible facilities and some of the work done by the students here. I'm thrilled as I have had Huddersfield students working with me on my last job, a film called The Choral which was filmed in this part of the world. It is an Alan Bennett story set in World War 1, so it feels like I’ve come full circle because it’s a Yorkshire story and here I am in Huddersfield. I am deeply honoured.”
Jenny with students Ellie Johns, Hannah Dixon, Charlotte Edwards, Zara Williams and Anya Carmichael
Jenny chats with students and staff about the costumes and the ideas behind them
Jenny met with students in the nearby Lawrence Batley Theatre.
Jenny visited the costume and textiles workspaces in the university's Liz Garland
Ed Anderson
John Robins
One of our many graduates celebrates her degree
A happy time for this cool customer
Our graduates enjoyed meeting up with their friends for the ceremonies in the Oastler Building
University Chancellor Sir George Buckley and Vice-Chancellor Professor Bob Cryan
Congratulations to all of our graduates!
John Robins, who became Chief Constable in 2019, said he was humbled by his honorary doctorate and urged graduates to throw themselves into whatever career they choose.
“Fellow graduates today, whatever careers or career you choose, I wish you genuinely all the professional satisfaction and enjoyment that I’ve had out of my own career. And it's not for me to give you advice, but all I would say is work hard. Throw yourselves into your work, your chosen work, and enjoy it. Find time to enjoy your careers whatever you choose.
“Thank you to the University of Huddersfield. This does mean a tremendous amount to me and to my colleagues, but most of all best wishes to my fellow graduates for your future chosen careers.”
Ed Anderson, currently Chairman of National Savings and Investments and formerly CEO of Leeds-Bradford Airport, encouraged graduates to try something new and different for their next step.
“The University has a special place in my heart, and there is a world full of opportunities for our graduates.
“Some of you in the audience will know what they want to do, but others, like myself, will not. I advise you to be open-minded, to embrace opportunities and to take on challenges outside of your comfort zone.”