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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Former University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday has been found dead in London, just over a week after resigning from the university amid plagiarism allegations and questions about aspects of his academic record and personal biography.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said officers were called to an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon and that a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the death is being treated as unexpected but is not believed to be suspicious, and that a file will be prepared for the coroner.
In response to a request for comment from Newsweek , a University of Cambridge spokesperson pointed to a statement from Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice, who said the university was "desperately saddened" by the news and offered condolences to Arday's family and friends.
Arday's family said he had been subjected to a "campaign of sustained abuse" since joining Cambridge and asked for privacy as they mourned his death.
Arday resigned from Cambridge on August 5 after the university announced it would investigate new information relating to his academic qualifications and honorary appointments, as well as complaints concerning alleged academic misconduct. He denied wrongdoing and said intense public scrutiny had taken a significant toll on him and his loved ones.
Arday was a British sociologist and education scholar best known for his research on race, inequality, social mobility and higher education.
In 2023, he was appointed Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Cambridge, becoming the university's youngest Black professor. At the time, his appointment drew national attention as one of the most prominent Black academic appointments in Britain.
Born and raised in south London, Arday's life story attracted widespread attention. According to Cambridge's announcement of his appointment, he had been diagnosed with a form of autism spectrum disorder and said he was unable to speak until age 11 and did not learn to read and write until his late teens. He later earned degrees, completed a doctorate at Liverpool John Moores University and built an academic career that included positions at Roehampton University, Durham University and the University of Glasgow before moving to Cambridge.
His scholarship examined racial inequality in education, the experiences of Black students in universities and barriers faced by minority ethnic groups in academia. Cambridge said he had published extensively on those topics and advised a variety of public and educational organizations.
Shortly before his death, Arday released a memoir , Great and Unfortunate Things , in the United States. The book was published days after Cambridge announced an investigation into his qualifications and academic record.
Reached for comment by Newsweek on Friday evening, Simon & Schuster, his publisher, responded:
"Simon & Schuster is deeply saddened by the news of Jason Arday’s tragic death, and we send our condolences to his family during this devastating time."
The controversy surrounding Arday intensified in recent weeks after media reports raised questions about his academic work and aspects of his personal story.
The Daily Telegraph reported that Arday's 2015 Ph.D. thesis contained more than 100 passages that were identical or nearly identical to another doctoral thesis, while noting that the other author had been cited multiple times. Other news organizations reported that passages in the dissertation closely matched earlier academic work.
Additional scrutiny focused on claims Arday had made regarding fundraising achievements, endurance-running feats and other elements of his biography. Some former acquaintances also publicly questioned parts of his account of being nonverbal during childhood, while supporters argued he had been subjected to an unfair and racially motivated campaign.
Arday denied plagiarism allegations and defended his record. Liverpool John Moores University said it had conducted a review after being notified of the allegations and ultimately upheld its decision to award him a Ph.D.
Cambridge initially described Arday as the target of a smear campaign but later announced an investigation into issues surrounding his qualifications and appointment. Arday resigned the same day that inquiry was announced.
The controversy sparked debate among academics and commentators, with some arguing Arday was the target of a racially motivated campaign while others questioned how universities had vetted his academic record and credentials.
In his resignation statement, he wrote that criticism had gone "far beyond scholarly disagreement" and said "relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary" had taken a profound toll on him and those close to him.
Debbie McKenzie-Arday is Jason Arday's wife.
Reports published after Arday's death state the couple married in 2014 and had two children together. Beyond her connection to the academic, McKenzie-Arday has largely remained out of the public spotlight and relatively little information about her professional life has been publicly reported.
In a statement shared with Newsweek by Simon & Schuster, Arday's family said he had been subjected to a "campaign of sustained abuse" since accepting a professorship at Cambridge, describing him as "an amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son." The family asked for privacy and called for an end to what they described as a campaign of harassment.
Writing on X on Friday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was "devastated" by Arday's death and that the academic had faced "an unacceptable public hounding and campaign of abuse." Khan also described Arday as a victim of a “pernicious public shaming.”
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