LONDON (AP) — A British sociologist who resigned last week from the University of Cambridge following weeks of public accusations of plagiarism and media scrutiny was found dead Friday.
Jason Arday, who was 37 when he became Cambridge's youngest Black professor in 2023, resigned after he came under intense media pressure, with weeks of allegations about plagiarism in his academic work and questions surrounding claims about his athletic and fundraising accomplishments.
The Times and Telegraph newspapers, along with the BBC and Sky News, reported that Arday, 41, was found "unresponsive" inside a home in Battersea, south London, on Friday afternoon.
In a statement issued by his publisher Simon & Schuster U.K., Arday's family said they were "in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son."
"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 family said, adding that for three years Arday was "subjected to a campaign of sustained abuse ... by those who would leave no stone unturned in their quest to undermine him."
