Ex-Cambridge Professor Jason Arday found dead amid plagiarism controversy

Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row, has been found dead.

The 41-year-old academic was found unresponsive at an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday (August 14), according to the Metropolitan Police.

Police said Arday’s death is currently being treated as unexpected, but there was no initial indication of suspicious circumstances. An investigation and further tests are under way to establish the cause of death.

Arday, a sociologist specialising in race, education and social policy, joined Cambridge as a professor in 2023 at the age of 37, becoming one of the university’s youngest Black professors.

His appointment and academic record came under scrutiny in recent months after allegations of plagiarism emerged. The controversy began after former Cambridge academic Nathan Cofnas raised questions about some of Arday’s published work.

Arday denied deliberately plagiarising other researchers. He acknowledged errors in some of his earlier academic work but rejected allegations of intentional misconduct. Liverpool John Moores University, where he completed his PhD, also investigated his thesis and did not conclude that it involved plagiarism.

The controversy nevertheless continued. Cambridge announced an independent review of the process surrounding Arday’s appointment this week.

Arday had resigned from his Cambridge post earlier, saying the public criticism and allegations had placed him under “unbearable personal pressure.” His family also said the spread of what it described as misinformation had made the situation particularly difficult for him.

Kehinde Andrews, a professor of Black Studies and a friend of Arday, said the academic had become deeply distressed after stepping down. He had largely stopped leaving his home and had lost a significant amount of weight, Andrews said.

Arday’s family described him as a gentle and kind-hearted person and expressed deep grief over his death.

His death has renewed attention to questions surrounding academic scrutiny, institutional accountability and the pressures faced by academics caught up in highly publicised controversies.