Cambridge University’s youngest Black professor, Jason Arday, accused of plagiarising his academic work and exaggerating his achievements, has died.
Mr Arday was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at an apartment in London on Friday afternoon.
Mr Arday, 41, resigned on August 5 shortly after Cambridge announced the institution would investigate him over new information that put his “academic qualifications and honorary appointments” in a new light.
“It is with profound sadness that I write to resign, with immediate effect, from my position at the University of Cambridge and Jesus College,” Mr Arday wrote in a statement first published on Good Law Project. “When I accepted the extraordinary honour of becoming professor of sociology at Cambridge, it was, without question, the greatest professional privilege of my life.”
But he said he has reached the point where the personal cost of the accusations was too great to bear, adding that his family members were also weighed down by the scrutiny and criticism of his scholarly work.
“The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love,” he explained. “For my own wellbeing, for my family, and for those who have stood by me throughout this difficult period, I have concluded that the only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away.”
Cambridge, which had helped Mr Arday weather many storms that questioned his qualifications, including sacking U.S. researcher Nathan Kofnas who accused the Black professor of plagiarism, changed its tune on Wednesday when it announced an investigation had been opened to scrutinise Mr Arday’s credentials.
“The University of Cambridge has begun an investigation following new information about Prof Arday’s academic qualifications and honorary appointments,” the British institution wrote in a statement on Wednesday. “In order to ensure a fair process, we will not comment further until this has concluded.”
Cambridge further said it was looking into separate allegations of academic misconduct against Mr Arday.
“Separately, there remains a number of ongoing complaints regarding academic misconduct, which are being handled in line with our misconduct in research policy. This is consistent with our previous statement on the matter,” the statement noted.
