Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor who recently resigned amid controversy, has been found dead at the age of 41.
Emergency services were called to an address in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon, where Arday was discovered unresponsive. The London Ambulance Service arrived shortly after 3:00 p.m., deploying an ambulance crew, an advanced paramedic, and a Hazardous Area Response Team. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Metropolitan Police stated that while the death is unexpected, it is not currently being treated as suspicious. Arday's next-of-kin have been informed and are receiving support from officers. The Met’s Central South Command Unit is handling the investigation, and a file is being prepared for the coroner.
Arday's sudden passing comes just over a week after he stepped down as Cambridge’s professor of sociology of education. He resigned on August 5, citing an "unrelenting level of public scrutiny," merely hours after the university announced an investigation into his appointment and tenure following allegations of plagiarism. The ongoing inquiry is expected to inform a broader review of Cambridge's hiring processes for senior academic roles.
Before his resignation, Arday made history as Cambridge’s youngest-ever black professor. His impressive academic ascent began with undergraduate and postgraduate studies in education, followed by a PhD from Liverpool John Moores University. He subsequently held academic posts at the University of Roehampton, Durham University, and the University of Glasgow, where he was named a professor in 2021.
His recently completed memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, was
