Jason Arday Becomes Cambridge's Youngest Black Full Professor at 37
Updated
Updated · The FP · Aug 5
Jason Arday Becomes Cambridge's Youngest Black Full Professor at 37
3 articles · Updated · The FP · Aug 5
Summary
Jason Arday has taken a full professorship in sociology of education at the University of Cambridge, becoming the youngest Black person to reach that rank there.
Cambridge has highlighted the appointment as a landmark academic milestone, centering both Arday’s field and the rarity of Black scholars reaching full professorships at elite British universities.
Arday’s rise followed major personal hurdles: he has said he was autistic, did not speak until age 11, and learned to read and write only at 18.
During his PhD, Arday pinned a note on his bedroom wall saying he would one day work at Oxford or Cambridge, a goal now realized at one of Britain’s top universities.