Cambridge University's Jason Arday becomes youngest black professor. Diagnosed with autism and global development delay in his early years, Jason Arday was unable to speak until he was 11 years old and could not read or write until he was 18. Now aged 37, he is about to become the youngest black person ever appointed to a professorship at the University of Cambridge. Although he could not speak, the young Jason fervently questioned the world around him. "Why are some people homeless?" he remembers wondering. "Why is there war?" Born and raised in Clapham, south-west London, Prof Arday, a sociologist, says formative moments included watching Nelson Mandela's release from prison on television and South Africa's symbolic triumph in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He remembers being deeply moved by the suffering of others and a strong compulsion to act. "I remember thinking if I don't make it as a football player or a professional snooker player, then I want to save the world," he says. His mother played a critical role in developing his self-confidence and skills. She introduced him to a wide range of music in the hope this would aid his conceptualisation of language. But it also kick-started a lifelong interest in popular culture that has characterised some of his research. Supported by his mentor, college tutor, and friend Sandro Sandri, Prof Arday finally began to read and write in his late teens. He went on to get a degree in Physical Education and Education Studies from the University of Surrey before training as a PE teacher. Growing up in a relatively disadvantaged area and then working as a school teacher, he says, gave him first-hand insight into the systemic inequalities that youngsters belonging to ethnic minorities faced in education.