Jason Arday, Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism, lying about career, resigns as elite school launches investigation

The Cambridge University professor accused of plagiarism and lying about his allegedly esteemed career resigned from the prestigious UK school Wednesday — as it launched an investigation into him.Diversity posterboy Jason Arday, 41 — the youngest black man ever to hold a professorship at the lauded London university — insisted the sudden move should not “be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me,” as he blasted the bombshell claims.“While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement,” he wrote in a post on the Good Law Project.“The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love.”Arday, who said his resignation as a professor of sociology goes into effect immediately, faces investigation for allegedly lifting more than 100 passages in his dissertation and fudging his resume.“[We have] begun an investigation following new information about Professor Arday’s academic qualifications and honorary appointments,” Cambridge University said in a statement Wednesday.“Separately, there remains a number of ongoing complaints regarding academic misconduct, which are being handled in line with our Misconduct in Research policy,” it added.The school has previously stood behind the professor, claiming he was a victim of a “vile campaign to undermine his credibility.”Nathan Cofnas, a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University in Belgium, published a Substack article last month detailing several examples in which Arday’s doctoral dissertation appeared to be plagiarized.An analysis showed more than 100 passages in his thesis reportedly appeared to be similar to or lifted from the thesis of Brunel University student Paula Zwozdiak-Myers.Arday then came under fire Tuesday for falsely claiming to have held three positions at academic institutions on his official biography page for Camb...