Former Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism found dead

A British academic and former University of Cambridge professor has been found dead just over a week after resigning his prestigious post amid a high-profile plagiarism scandal.Jason Arday, 41, was found unresponsive at a south London address on Friday, according to British media reports citing authorities.London’s Met Police said in a statement, “At this time his death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious.”Cambridge University vice-chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice said she was “desperately saddened” to hear news of Arday’s death.The news comes just nine days after Arday resigned as a professor and fellow of Jesus College at the University of Cambridge, having been the youngest Black professor in the school’s history when he was appointed in 2023.The sociology professor’s resignation followed several investigative articles into his academic work and personal life, as well as allegations that he plagiarised parts of his doctoral thesis.On July 24, British newspaper London" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="46789" data-entity-type="organization">The Times of London published an analysis of Arday’s 2015 PhD thesis highlighting what it said were multiple examples of passages that were “identical or near-identical” to an earlier paper written by another researcher.The British media also raised questions about Arday’s claims that he had raised 5.5 million pounds ($7.4m) for charity through feats such as running 30 marathons in 35 days and 965 kilometres (600 miles) in six days.Arday had admitted to making mistakes, but he said he was being wrongly “portrayed to be a liar and a fantasist and an academic fraud”.