Jason Arday

Jason Atta Kwei Arday was a British academic and author who was a professor of sociology at the University of Cambridge from 2023 to 2026. Arday resigned following widely publicised allegations that he plagiarised and falsified parts of his research, as well as claims of fabrication in his autobiographical accounts. He was found dead at his home on 14 August 2026, nine days after his resignation.

After receiving a PhD from Liverpool John Moores University in 2015, Arday taught physical education at Leeds Beckett and Roehampton before teaching sociology at Durham and Glasgow, where he became a professor in 2022.

From 2018, he contributed publications that focused on race and racism in the British education sector, and wrote autoethnographic reflections about his life as a neurodivergent black academic.

In 2023, Arday was appointed a professor of sociology of education at Cambridge, attracting media attention as the youngest black professor in the university's history. Over the following years he made television appearances, was given several honorary doctorates, and was appointed to various trustee or advisory roles in civil society.

In 2026, media sources reported allegations that Arday had plagiarised some of his writings, falsified research, and made false claims in his academic history and autobiography. Arday called the allegations cruel, acknowledged mistakes in his work, but maintained he was not a liar, and stated that institutional panels had cleared him of academic misconduct. Shortly after Cambridge announced an investigation into his appointment, he resigned from his posts. The affair attracted wide media attention, with supporters of Arday describing the scrutiny as a racialised smear campaign. Various commentators and academics also stated that it made life more difficult for black scholars and emboldened critics of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

Arday married Debbie McKenzie, a teacher, in 2014. They had two children.

Arday was found unresponsive at his home in Battersea on 14 August 2026, and was pronounced dead at the scene, aged 41. He had been seen alive earlier on the same day. A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said his death was being treated as unexpected, but not suspicious