Glasgow University 'shocked and saddened' by death of former professor

Glasgow University has said it is “deeply shocked and saddened” by the death of its former professor Jason Arday.

The former University of Cambridge professor, who resigned following a plagiarism row, was found dead in London.

Emergency services were called to Daley Thompson Way, in Battersea, where the academic lived, just after 3pm on Friday, following reports that a man had been found unresponsive inside a property.

The 41-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.

His death is being treated as unexpected, but is not believed to be suspicious, the force added.

The family of Mr Arday, who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, said they are “in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son”.

Arday was employed as Professor of Sociology of Education at the University of Glasgow from January 2022 to March 2023.

A University spokesperson said: “We are deeply shocked and saddened by the death of our former colleague Professor Jason Arday.

“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with his friends and family at this desperately sad time.”

Prof Arday, a professor of sociology of education who became Cambridge’s youngest black professor in 2023, quit following a series of media reports alleging he plagiarised his PhD thesis – completed at Liverpool John Moores University – and other research.

Further questions were asked in the press about the truth of other claims he made, including saying he ran 600 miles in six days and that he had raised £5.5 million for charity.

An investigation at Liverpool John Moores University cleared Prof Arday of wrongdoing.

Durham and Glasgow universities previously said they were investigating the circumstances around his appointment to academic posts there, and Cambridge’s Jesus College has accepted his resignation from his fellowship, according to Prof Prentice.

Mr Arday said in his open resignation letter that he felt the “only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away”.

In the letter, addressed to colleagues and published on the Good Law Project’s website, he said: “This decision should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge.

“Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me.

“It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure.”