British academic Jason Arday has died at the age of 41, just days after resigning from his position at the University of Cambridge following growing scrutiny over allegations concerning his academic work.
Arday was found unresponsive at an address in south London on Friday, according to British media reports citing authorities. The Metropolitan Police said, “At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious.”
His death came nine days after Arday stepped down as a professor and fellow of Jesus College at Cambridge. He had joined the university in 2023 and became its youngest Black professor at the time of his appointment.
Cambridge vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice said she was “desperately saddened” to hear about Arday’s death.
The academic had been facing intense scrutiny following a series of reports about his career, including allegations related to his 2015 doctoral thesis. The controversy gained wider attention after The Times of London published an analysis of the thesis on July 24, pointing to several passages it said were “identical or near-identical” to material from an earlier paper by another researcher.
READ: Cambridge professor Jason Arday resigns amid plagiarism allegation (
Arday also faced questions over claims that he had raised £5.5 million ($7.4 million) for charity through a number of endurance challenges. These included running 30 marathons in 35 days and covering 965 kilometres (600 miles) in six days.
While Arday acknowledged that mistakes had been made, he rejected the wider characterization of his career and said he was being “portrayed to be a liar and a fantasist and an academic fraud”.
He announced his resignation last week, saying the pressure surrounding the allegations had taken a heavy personal toll. “While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement,” he stated.
Arday had also said that the “personal cost” of the scrutiny had become “too great”.
Cambridge had previously dismissed plagiarism allegations made by a former colleague, citing an earlier investigation by Liverpool John Moores University. However, the university later announced that it would conduct an independent review into Arday’s appointment.
Glasgow University also said it would review his previous academic work.
Following his death, Arday’s family spoke about the impact of what they described as a “campaign of harassment” directed at the academic.
“The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone. We are in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son,” his family said in a statement released through his publisher, Simon & Schuster.
Arday’s death also comes as his memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, has drawn attention. The book, which explores his childhood difficulties with autism and his journey to academic success, was recently released in the United States and is due to be published in the UK later this month.
Simon & Schuster has said that “no allegations of plagiarism have been made with respect” to the memoir.