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Professor Jason Arday
Professor Jason Arday is a social commentator, presenter and public speaker. He is currently the 2002 Professorial Chair of Education (Sociology of Education) at the University of Cambridge, making him the youngest-ever Black academic to hold a Professorship at Cambridge and one of the youngest academics ever appointed to a Professorial Chair in Oxbridge’s history. At three years old, Jason was diagnosed with global development delay and autism spectrum disorder. He did not speak until he was eleven years old and could not read or write until he was eighteen.
About Professor Jason Arday
Professor Jason Arday was formerly a Guest Editor on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme and listed fourth on the prestigious Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 in 2023. In April 2025, he presented BBC Radio 4 five-part documentary series: Beyond Lonely.
Jason has featured on BBC Radio 4’s A Good Read, BBC Outlook and BBC Sounds’ Pick of the World. He has been a panellist on multiple occasions on BBC’s Question Time and Sunday with Laura Kunessberg and recently featured on the BBC Today Podcast with Amol Rajan and Nick Robinson. He has also featured on Channel 4’s Ways to Change the World with Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Full Disclosure with James O’ Brien.
Professor Arday has also previously held the position of Associate Professor in Sociology at Durham University in the Department of Sociology and Deputy Executive Dean for People and Culture in the Faculty of Social Science and Health. He is a Visiting Professor at The Ohio State University in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, University of Glasgow in the School of Education and an Honorary Professor at Durham University in the Department of Sociology.
He has regularly written, featured, and spoken on issues of politics, race and racism in education and society for The Guardian, Times Higher Education (THE), BBC, ITV News, CNN, and more. Jason also speaks regularly at national and international conferences, as well as parliamentary, public and community events where he consults and advises on race, cultural studies, neurodiversity, intersectionality, education, and social justice.
Outside of academia, Jason has been a prolific fundraiser having raised over £5.5 million pounds for 80 national charities over a 20-year period. His fundraising achievements include running: 30 marathons in 35 days, 300 miles in 3 days and 600 miles in 6 days. He has been shortlisted three times for The Mirror’s Pride of Britain Fundraiser of the Year Award and is currently a Pride of Britain judge. He has also undertaken and completed relief work in South America and West Africa with WaterAid installing water points, which provide drinkable and clean water. The highlight of these fundraising achievements culminated in selection to be an Olympic Torch Bearer for the London 2012 Olympics. Additionally, Jason has set up homeless drives across London to develop mobile soup kitchens and cleaning facilities for individuals experiencing homelessness.
To book Motivational Speaker Professor Jason Arday, contact The Speakers Agency on +44(0)1332 810481 or email enquiries@thespeakersagency.com
- Race and intersectionality
- Mental Health
- Neurodiversity
- Cultural Studies
- Education
