Former University of Cambridge professor Jason Arday has been found dead at an address in Battersea, south London, at the age of 41.
Arday was found unresponsive at the address on Friday afternoon and was later pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Metropolitan Police.
A spokesman for the force said officers were called by the London Ambulance Service at 3.12pm.
“Sadly, a 41-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and are being supported by officers,” the spokesman said.
The police said the death was being treated as unexpected but was not believed to be suspicious.
The case is being investigated by officers from the Met’s Central South Command Unit, with a file to be prepared for the coroner.
Arday had resigned from his position as Professor of Sociology of Education at Cambridge on August 5, following accusations of plagiarism.
He was the university’s youngest-ever Black professor.
His resignation came shortly after Cambridge announced that it would investigate his appointment and tenure at the university.
The investigation was expected to form part of a wider review of the institution’s recruitment process for senior academic positions.
Following the announcement, Arday cited what he described as the “unrelenting level of public scrutiny” as the reason for his resignation.
Before joining Cambridge, Arday built an academic career spanning several British universities.
He studied education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels before completing his PhD at Liverpool John Moores University.
He subsequently held academic positions at the University of Roehampton and Durham University before joining the University of Glasgow, where he became Professor of Sociology of Education in 2021.
Arday’s death comes just days after the publication of his memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, in the United States.
The book is scheduled to be published in the United Kingdom by Simon & Schuster on August 27.
His sudden death has brought an abrupt end to the career of an academic who rose to prominence as one of Britain’s youngest Black professors and whose work focused on sociology, education and issues surrounding race and inequality.
