Lee Elliot Major

Lee Elliot Major OBE is Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter, Britain's first professor in the field. His work is dedicated to improving the prospects of disadvantaged young people.

He grew up in Feltham, west London, and lived in a shared house on social security after his parents split up. He worked as a dustman and street cleaner, gained a BSc in physics and PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Sheffield, and an MSc Science Communication at Imperial College, London, in 1994.

Professor Major argues that social mobility is about securing decent jobs in local communities, not just catapulting a lucky few to the top.