Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor who recently resigned amid a massive plagiarism scandal and questions about his academic record, has been found dead at the age of 41.
Emergency services found Arday unresponsive at a property in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Metropolitan Police said his death was being treated as ‘unexpected’ but was not believed to be suspicious. A file will be prepared for the coroner.
No official cause of death has been announced, although accounts from people close to Arday suggest that he was in severe distress before his death. Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, director of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre, said he spoke to Arday on Friday morning and received voice messages in which the former professor said he felt he ‘couldn’t go on’. Baron-Cohen said Arday’s mental health had become much worse during the previous ten days as he faced intense public criticism and the loss of his academic career.
The accounts have raised the possibility of suicide, but there has been no official finding to that effect. Police have only said the death is not considered suspicious.
Arday’s family said they were ‘in shock’ and blamed what they described as a long-running campaign of misinformation and harassment. Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice said the university was ‘desperately saddened’ by his death, while Education Secretary Lucy Powell also expressed her condolences.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan accused critics of subjecting Arday to an ‘unacceptable public hounding’, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham called his death ‘a tragedy on so many levels’ and urged against ‘rushing to judgement’.
Conservative politician James Cleverly took a different line, arguing that academic institutions bore responsibility for placing a vulnerable man in positions for which, he claimed, he was not qualified.
Arday became Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor in 2023 and was widely praised for his ‘unusual path’ into academia. His reputation came under growing pressure this summer after allegations that parts of his 2015 doctoral thesis closely resembled earlier academic work. He denied deliberately plagiarizing material.
Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded his doctorate, previously investigated the thesis but did not uphold the plagiarism allegations, saying the problems were likely the result of ‘honest and reasonable error’.
Further reports raised questions about other parts of Arday’s research, academic positions, qualifications, charity fundraising claims, and accounts of his sporting achievements. Cambridge eventually opened a new investigation into his appointment and academic record.
Arday resigned from Cambridge on 5 August, saying the accusations and public attention had taken a profound toll on him, while continuing to deny deliberate wrongdoing.
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