Professor Jason Ardai, a former professor at the University of Cambridge, has died at the age of 41, weeks after his resignation in the wake of accusations of plagiarism that caused widespread shock within British academic circles.
Ardai, who is considered the youngest black professor in the university’s history, resigned in early August from his position as professor of educational sociology, following accusations that there were copied passages in his doctoral thesis issued in 2015.
The accusations also included inconsistencies in other research, as well as questions about his biography and personal life, allegations that Ardai has consistently denied.
The British Metropolitan Police announced that he was found dead at the scene of the accident, and described the death as “unexpected,” but confirmed that there were no criminal suspicions surrounding it. The investigation is still ongoing to determine the circumstances of the death, while his family members have been informed and support is being provided to them.
Days before his death, the University of Cambridge had opened an official investigation into the circumstances of his appointment in 2022 and his period of work within the College of Education.
University Vice Chancellor Deborah Prentice expressed her deep sadness and offered her condolences to his family and friends, as did British Education Minister Lucy Powell.
For its part, the Ardai family said, in a statement issued through Simon & Schuster, that they were in a state of shock, considering that the campaign of misleading information to which they were exposed “was more than Jason could bear, who was a kind man who always sought to see the good in everyone.”
The family called on the media to stop what it described as a campaign of harassment that has been going on for a while, and to let its members live their grief free from pressure.
