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.

At the age of 22, Prof Arday became interested in the idea of carrying out postgraduate study and spoke about it with his mentor. "Sandro told me, 'I think you can do this - I think we can take on the world and win'," he says. "Looking back, that was when I first really believed in myself. A lot of academics say they stumbled into this line of work, but from that moment I was determined and focused - I knew that this would be my goal."

Learning to become an academic, however, was very difficult, particularly because he had little practical training or guidance about how to do it.

During the day, Prof Arday worked as a PE lecturer in higher education.

In the evening and night, his hours were filled drafting academic papers and studying sociology. "When I started writing academic papers, I had no idea what I was doing," he says. "I did not have a mentor and no-one ever showed me how to write. "Everything I submitted got violently rejected.

"The peer review process was so cruel, it was almost funny, but I treated it as a learning experience and, perversely, began to enjoy it."

Prof Arday went on to acquire two masters qualifications and a PhD in educational studies. Asked when he realised he was a sociologist, he says it was probably in about 2015."On reflection this is what I meant to do."

There are currently five black people who are professors at the university.