Cambridge launches review of support for Jason Arday before his death

The University of Cambridge has begun an independent review into its handling of the period before former professor Jason Arday’s death, asking whether it could have done more to support him.

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We worked very hard to support Professor Arday during an appalling period of external criticism and focus, but given the devastating outcome, we are still asking ourselves whether we could have and should have done more.

Arday, 41, was found dead at his London home on Aug. 14, one week after resigning as professor of sociology of education. His resignation followed intense scrutiny over allegations of plagiarism, which he denied, although he acknowledged errors in his work.

The first part of the review will examine the support, interventions and protections available to Arday before his death. Its findings are due within three months, so recommendations for urgent action can be considered and implemented without delay. Nazir Afzal, chancellor of the University of Manchester and a former chief crown prosecutor for northwest England, will lead this part.

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This review will help us answer that question.

Afzal said, "it is important that we approach this work with both rigour and humanity" and that "we must be willing to ask difficult questions." A second part will examine the wider circumstances of Arday’s time at Cambridge, including the recruitment of senior academics, mentoring and support arrangements, and the university’s response to research-misconduct allegations. It will also assess support for academics facing extraordinary public and media scrutiny.

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it is important that we approach this work with both rigour and humanity

Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice said the university had worked hard to support Arday during a period of external criticism but was still asking whether it could and should have done more. She said his death had deeply affected Black staff and students and the university’s neurodiverse community. Prentice also cited an unacceptable rise in racist, hateful and abusive attacks online. Arday became Cambridge’s youngest Black professor in 2023, at the age of 37.

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we must be willing to ask difficult questions