Former Cambridge Professor Accused of Plagiarism Found Dead
By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and News Agencies
Police are treating sociology professor Jason Arday’s death as unexpected but not suspicious.
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.
ation followed several investigative articles into his academic work and personal life, as well as allegations that he plagiarised parts of his doctoral thesis.
In a statement released after his death, Arday’s family criticised a “campaign of harassment” that had targeted the academic.
“The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone. We are in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son,” said the statement, released via his publisher Simon & Schuster late on Friday.
‘Personal cost’ of scrutiny
On July 24, British newspaper 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”.
Announcing his resignation last week, he said the “personal cost” of the scrutiny of him had become “too great”.
“While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement,” he said.
Cambridge University initially dismissed claims of plagiarism made against Arday by a former colleague because they had already been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University. However, last week Cambridge said it would carry out an independent investigation into Arday’s appointment.
Glasgow University also announced a review into Arday’s previous academic work.
Arday’s new memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, was recently released in the United States and is set to be published in the United Kingdom later this month. The book, which details Arday’s childhood difficulties with autism and his later success, has also attracted scrutiny, but publisher Simon & Schuster has insisted that “no allegations of plagiarism have been made with respect” to it.
