{"id":19627,"date":"2026-08-06T17:44:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:44:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=19627"},"modified":"2026-08-06T17:44:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T17:44:05","slug":"meet-jason-arday-cambridge-universitys-youngest-ever-black-professor-who-didnt-speak-until-he-was-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=19627","title":{"rendered":"Meet Jason Arday, Cambridge University&#8217;s youngest ever Black professor, who didn&#8217;t speak until he was 11"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p><em>London \u2014<\/em>\u00a0Jason Arday&#8217;s school teachers were clear with him as he grew up. Life was going to be tough.<\/p>\n<p>Arday was diagnosed with autism and a condition called global development delay at the age of just three. It meant he was unable to speak until he was 11, and he couldn&#8217;t read or write until he was 18.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Not many teachers at school had any belief in me,&#8221; he told CBS News on Thursday. &#8220;Educational psychologists and behavioral therapists were\u2026 very robust in their assessment that I would struggle in later life and I would need assisted living<em>.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n<p>Now 37, Arday has just been appointed as the University of Cambridge&#8217;s youngest ever Black professor.<\/p>\n<p>Arday, who will start his work as a professor of sociology of education at the world-renowned university Monday, said the key to his extraordinary rise was perspective.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I never saw any of it as a deficit, mainly because my mother never spoke to me of me being disadvantaged in any way,&#8221; he told CBS News.<\/p>\n<p>Even his &#8220;paralysis of speech,&#8221; he said, &#8220;was a blessing\u2026 It allowed me to observe human interaction.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2023\/03\/02\/dd6c0cf0-b314-434b-92b0-e7beb288cd5c\/thumbnail\/620x349\/0e075c77b534282a97590d0cb5a824e2\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg#\" alt=\"cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg \" height=\"349\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2023\/03\/02\/dd6c0cf0-b314-434b-92b0-e7beb288cd5c\/thumbnail\/620x349\/0e075c77b534282a97590d0cb5a824e2\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2023\/03\/02\/dd6c0cf0-b314-434b-92b0-e7beb288cd5c\/thumbnail\/1240x698\/8ac8d1723ea49d0b98e10bcbe0b765da\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">University of Cambridge&#8217;s youngest-ever Black professor, Jason Arday, is seen in a graduation photo.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__credit\"><\/p>\n<p>                Jason Arday<\/p>\n<p>                          <\/span><br \/>\n              <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When, he did learn to read and write as a young man, he said those &#8220;observations\u2026 came to life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Arday&#8217;s mother helped him &#8220;engage with the world in different ways, through music, particularly song lyrics\u2026 and the use of sound to make sense of things.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Modern Celtic musician Enya was a childhood favorite, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Arday said his mother had always told him <strong>&#8220;<\/strong>that I was blessed, I was very fortunate and I would go on and do great things. Now, I don&#8217;t think any of us could have guessed we might get to this point. But if I managed to achieve anything in my life, it&#8217;s really because of the amazing people I had around me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>&#8220;Not as celebratory as people think&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p>Arday was born and raised in south London. He went to college to earn a degree in education and physical education, and then went on to earn two master&#8217;s degrees before qualifying as a teacher. He then earned his PhD at Liverpool John Moores University.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He paid for his studies by working at national grocery and drug store chains.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Arday said his personal journey has shaped his teaching style, which he described as being built on love, solidarity and understanding.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed__float-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"embed embed--type-image is-image embed--float-none embed--size-medium\" data-ads=\"{\" extrawordcount=\"\">\n<p>      <span class=\"img embed__content \"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2023\/03\/02\/c8486249-b071-42b1-b08a-a9cb91513b2b\/thumbnail\/620x344\/b33cc492845ac07392cc9a9c326dc746\/jason-arday-cambridge.jpg#\" alt=\"jason-arday-cambridge.jpg \" height=\"344\" width=\"620\" class=\" lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets3.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2023\/03\/02\/c8486249-b071-42b1-b08a-a9cb91513b2b\/thumbnail\/620x344\/b33cc492845ac07392cc9a9c326dc746\/jason-arday-cambridge.jpg 1x, https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2023\/03\/02\/c8486249-b071-42b1-b08a-a9cb91513b2b\/thumbnail\/1240x688\/7ec2cbeb7bd9fd924c475f87d4b94edf\/jason-arday-cambridge.jpg 2x\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/span><figcaption class=\"embed__caption-container\">\n<p>                  <span class=\"embed__caption\">University of Cambridge Prof. Jason Arday speaks with CBS News from his home in London.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a whole vocabulary of ways to engage people pedagogically, and there are so many different ways in which people learn\u2026 What is really important,&#8221; he said, &#8220;is instilling belief in people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Arday will join five other Black professors at Cambridge, but only 160 of the U.K.&#8217;s nearly 23,000 professors are Black in total &#8211; just 1%, according to the latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.<\/p>\n<p>Cambridge&#8217;s new professor is determined to see that statistic change. His work at the university will focus on the lack of Black and minority ethnic people in higher education and academia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Upon sitting or standing on a vista, one of the things that you want to be able to see is\u2026 people that look like yourself,&#8221; said Arday, &#8220;and when you don&#8217;t have that, it&#8217;s actually not as celebratory as people would think.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That has pushed him to &#8220;return to my original mission, which is really to engage in the redistribution and diversification of global academia &#8211; and in particular U.K. higher education.&#8221;<\/p>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n<\/section>\n<p>  <!-- data-recirc-source=\"queryly\" --><\/p>\n<aside class=\"component list recirculation component--type-recirculation  \">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">More from CBS News<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div class=\"component__item-recirc-block\">\n<p><h3 class=\"component__title\">Go deeper with The Free Press<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<section class=\"content__body--footer\">\n      <!-- tags --><\/p>\n<section class=\"content__tags\">\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:90px; background:#4ecdc4; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114300\" data-width=\"728\" data-height=\"90\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114300});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u4e3b\u680f\uff1a\u591a\u5e7f\u544a\u5806\u53e0 -->\r\n  <div style=\"display:grid; 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display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n\t\r\n<!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114303\" data-width=\"125\" data-height=\"125\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114303});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n\t<\/div>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u7ad6\u680f\uff1a160\u00d7600 \u6574\u5217\u9ad8\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row:3\/8; height:600px;  display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114301\" data-width=\"160\" data-height=\"600\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114301});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<br \/> Meet Jason Arday, Cambridge University&#8217;s youngest ever Black professor, who didn&#8217;t speak until he was 11<br \/>\n<br \/>#Meet #Jason #Arday #Cambridge #Universitys #youngest #Black #professor #didnt #speak<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>London \u2014\u00a0Jason Arday&#8217;s school teachers were clear with him as he grew up. Life was&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[15075,2567,4413,3871,1477,76,15077,5981,15081,8734],"class_list":["post-19627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-arday","tag-black","tag-cambridge","tag-didnt","tag-jason","tag-meet","tag-professor","tag-speak","tag-universitys","tag-youngest"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360-300x158.jpg",300,158,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"large":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"covernews-slider-full":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"covernews-slider-center":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360.jpg",640,336,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360-540x336.jpg",540,336,true],"covernews-medium-square":["https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/cbsn-fusion-university-of-cambridge-jason-arday-youngest-black-professor-thumbnail-1760973-640x360-400x250.jpg",400,250,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?author=1"},"category_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?cat=9\" rel=\"category\">News<\/a>","tag_info":"News","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}