Jason Arday, a British sociologist and former Cambridge professor known for research on race and inequality in higher education, died at 41 on Aug. 14, 2026, after being found unresponsive at a home in Battersea, south London, The Associated Press reported. The Metropolitan Police said his death was unexpected but not believed to be suspicious.
In the weeks before his death, the University of Cambridge opened an investigation after receiving new information about Arday’s academic qualifications and honorary appointments. The Associated Press reported that he resigned the following week amid allegations of plagiarism and questions about claims concerning his athletic and fundraising accomplishments. Arday denied plagiarism, said the scrutiny had gone beyond scholarly disagreement and acknowledged some mistakes in his doctoral work. The investigation and related academic-misconduct complaints had not reached a reported outcome.
Arday’s Cambridge professorship followed a career focused on research into racial inequality and representation in British higher education. While completing his doctorate in 2015, he co-edited the Runnymede Trust report Aiming Higher, which examined racial and ethnic inequality in British universities and its links to wider social issues. In 2018, he and Heidi Safia Mirza co-edited Dismantling Race in Higher Education, an edited collection on structural racism and exclusion in British universities.
In 2021, Arday became a professor of sociology of education at the University of Glasgow. In 2022, he published a paper arguing that the small number of Black professors in UK universities reflected systemic inequality and required stronger opportunities and policy action.
In March 2023, the University of Cambridge appointed Arday professor of sociology of education. The university said he was the youngest Black person ever appointed to a Cambridge professorship.
