Jason Arday to become youngest ever black professor at Cambridge University

Arday, 37, a sociologist, aims to inspire others from disadvantaged and under-represented backgrounds

A renowned sociologist who was unable to read or write until the age of 18, and was working part-time in Sainsbury's less than eight years ago, is to become the youngest black professor ever appointed at the University of Cambridge.

Prof Jason Arday, 37, is a highly respected scholar of race, inequality and education, yet at three years old he was diagnosed with global development delay and autism spectrum disorder, and he did not learn to speak until he was 11.