Jason Arday, a former University of Cambridge professor at the center of a plagiarism scandal, died at 41 on Friday.
Arday resigned on August 5 after a former Cambridge researcher accused him of plagiarism in his PhD thesis. He denied the allegation but acknowledged making mistakes. He was the university’s youngest ever black professor.
He was found unresponsive by the ambulance service at a property in Battersea, south London.
“Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by officers,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
“At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious. The case is being investigated by officers from the Met’s Central South Command Unit,” the police said.
The University of Cambridge announced an investigation earlier this week into the circumstances of Arday’s appointment to the Faculty of Education in 2022 and his time there since.
Arday’s personal life, childhood struggles investigated in plagiarism controversy
A high-profile professor who appeared frequently in the media, Arday faced accusations this year that parts of his 2015 PhD thesis were plagiarized, which he denied.
The allegations expanded to include apparent inconsistencies in Arday’s other academic work, and questions over his claims about his career, personal life, and medical conditions.
Arday’s accounts of his childhood struggles with autism and his sporting achievements – including a claim to have run 30 marathons in 35 days – have also been challenged.
“We are desperately saddened to hear this tragic news. Our heartfelt sympathies go to Jason Arday’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time,” Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice said in a statement.
Britain’s education secretary, Lucy Powell, said she was saddened to hear the news of Arday’s death.
His family said they were in shock.
“The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone,” the family said in a statement provided by Arday’s publisher, Simon & Schuster UK.
“We won’t comment further at this point beyond asking the press to leave us alone now, and to stop the campaign of harassment which has been waged against Jason and his family for too long.”
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham called on Saturday for reflection following Arday’s death.
“It’s a tragedy on so many levels, but particularly… for everybody who knew Jason, his family obviously, his friends,” Burnham told broadcasters.
“It’s not a moment for any rushing to judgment. It’s a moment for reflection, I would say, reflecting on how things came to this.”
Critics blame ‘unthinking culture warriors’ for failing to check Arday’s credentials
The case has fueled debate over the university’s handling of the allegations. Some critics have argued it was so keen to hire a black academic that it failed to check Arday’s credentials sufficiently and did not respond appropriately when the plagiarism claims emerged.
“The unthinking culture warriors who have supported (Arday) unconditionally share responsibility with his racist critics for making life harder for black academics and dragging UK higher education deeper into the mire,” Paul Gilroy, a University of London sociology professor, was quoted as saying by the Guardian newspaper on August 8.
Initial accusations against Arday were made by self-defined “race realist” Nathan Cofnas, the Guardian reported. Cofnas has previously expressed the belief that in a meritocracy there would be “close to zero” black professors at Harvard University.
The Guardian also reported that, following the allegations of plagiarism, Cambridge stated that it had passed the complaints to Liverpool John Moores, where Arday had completed his PhD, which had not found evidence of plagiarism.
Simon Baron-Cohen, a Cambridge professor and supporter of Arday, said Arday had spoken to him hours before his death about his distress over media coverage and criticism on social media.
“He was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life,” Baron-Cohen told BBC Radio on Saturday. “And he wasn’t coping with the loss of his career, the loss of his reputation, and he felt he couldn’t go on.”
Arday, as a vulnerable person since childhood, deserved safeguarding and support, he said, adding that investigations into the case should assign accountability “at lots of levels.”
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
