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Former University of Cambridge professor, Jason Arday, has died aged 41, days after resigning from the institution amid allegations of plagiarism and scrutiny over aspects of his personal history.
Arday, described as the youngest black professor to have taught at Cambridge, was found unresponsive at an address in Battersea, London, on Friday afternoon.
Metropolitan Police confirmed he was pronounced dead at the scene and said his next of kin had been informed and were receiving support.
Authorities, as reported by Sky News, have indicated that the death is not being treated as suspicious.
The sociologist, who became the University of Cambridge’s youngest Black professor in 2023, stepped down last week following allegations that sections of his PhD thesis, completed at Liverpool John Moores University, had been plagiarised.
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Other claims about his life, including reports that he had been mute until adulthood, completed a 600-mile run in six days and raised millions for charity, also came under public scrutiny.
In a statement, Arday’s family said they were devastated by his death and described him as “an amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son”.
They also said he had been overwhelmed by what they called a “campaign of misinformation”, describing him as “a gentle man who always wanted to see the best in everyone”.
In his resignation letter, Arday said the criticism directed at him had gone beyond normal academic debate.
“While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement,” he wrote, adding that the “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary” had taken a profound toll on both him and his loved ones.
He maintained that his resignation should not be interpreted as an acceptance of the allegations made against him.
The University of Cambridge expressed its condolences, with Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice saying the institution was “desperately saddened” by the news and extended its sympathies to Arday’s family and friends.
Tributes also came from friends and public figures.
Barrister Jolyon Maugham, who said he had spoken to Arday almost daily in recent weeks, described him as deeply affected by the public scrutiny.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy and London Mayor Sadiq Khan criticised what they characterised as a media “witch hunt” and an “unacceptable public hounding”, arguing that the academic had been subjected to disproportionate public abuse before his death.
Arday was widely recognised for his work on education, race and social inequality, and his appointment to Cambridge in 2023 was celebrated as a landmark achievement in British academia.
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