Jason Arday, the former Cambridge University scholar whose remarkable rise to stardom was followed by a rapid fall from grace in recent weeks, has died, his family said on Friday.
“Jason was subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse” in the years since he accepted a role at Cambridge, his family wrote in a statement. “The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone.”
The Metropolitan Police of London said that an ambulance was called on Friday afternoon to a South London residence connected to Mr. Arday after a report that a man there had been found unresponsive. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, the police said, without confirming his identity, in keeping with British police practice.
The death was being “treated as unexpected” but was not believed to be suspicious, the police said.
“We are desperately saddened to hear this tragic news,” Professor Deborah Prentice, the Cambridge vice-chancellor, said in a statement. “Our heartfelt sympathies go to Jason Arday’s family and friends at this incredibly difficult time.”
Mr. Arday, who was 41, grew up in a working-class quarter of South London, the child of Ghanaian immigrants. Early on, he was identified as having learning difficulties. He wrote in his memoir that he could not speak until age 11 and could not read until age 18, charting a remarkable trajectory from nonverbal preteen to Ph.D.
Mr. Arday, who had written and lectured on racism in higher education, became Cambridge’s youngest Black professor in 2023 when the university hired him for a prestigious post, an established chair of education at the school’s Jesus College.
Last month, a public firestorm over Mr. Arday’s career erupted after a blog post accused him of plagiarism in his dissertation and embellishing his personal story. It was written by a scholar known for work suggesting that Black people were genetically predisposed to be less intelligent than white people.
Scrutiny intensified ahead of the publication of Mr. Arday’s memoir on Tuesday by Simon & Schuster, as journalists found more inconsistencies in his story. He resigned from Cambridge last week.
Allegations about Mr. Arday’s work circulated within Cambridge for years, but the institution disregarded repeated warnings about possible duplication in Mr. Arday’s work, according to the academic integrity site Retraction Watch.
The elite university initially defended Mr. Arday but in a letter sent to faculty on Tuesday promised an independent investigation of his hiring and called the case “an aberration” and “troubling.”
Some faculty had supported Mr. Arday. Others signed an open letter questioning the university’s handling of the allegations and criticizing it for “crafting a media narrative focusing on his youth, his race, and his transformative potential.”
Nick Clark, who has known Mr. Arday since childhood, described him in an interview last week as a caring person who would go out of his way to make others feel comfortable in everyday social settings. Mr. Arday was modest when discussing his career with his friends, said Mr. Clark, but those who knew him personally took pride in his accomplishments. “He’s always been that kind, caring, friendly character,” he added. “That’s Jason.”
“We are in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son,” Mr. Arday’s family said in its statement.
The intense attention took a toll on Mr. Arday, he wrote in a blog post upon resigning from Cambridge. “The years since my appointment have also been marked by an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack,” he wrote, adding, “The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.”
Neil Vigdor and Leo Sands contributed reporting.
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