The youngest Black professor in the University of Cambridge’s history has tendered his resignation amid allegations of plagiarism.
According to The New York Times, Arday’s resignation came hours after Cambridge announced an investigation into his academic qualifications.
Star scholar Jason Arday was appointed Professor of Sociology of Education at Cambridge in 2023. He became the youngest Black professor in the university’s history.
Fame soon followed as news reporters flocked to the school to meet him. However, his academic qualifications are now in doubt after he was accused of plagiarism.
Plagiarism allegations are just the tip of the iceberg
The Atlantic magazine discovered that Arday may have fabricated content in his memoir that’s set for release next week.
The Atlantic dissected a copy of Arday’s book proposal and discovered numerous fabrications. Arday’s alleged fabrications include a diagnosis of testicular cancer (which changed to brain cancer later in his book). He aborted a suicide attempt on a bridge after listening to an Eagles song. And he was awarded several accolades – none of which exists online.
This is wild. The Atlantic has obtained a copy of Jason Arday's book proposal. In it, he claims to have:
– Experienced 'locked-in' syndrome for several months after being hit by a car. Doctors advised his family to have the life support machine turned off, but he awakened…
— Paul Embery (@PaulEmbery) August 7, 2026
As news of Arday’s fabrications began to spread, Cambridge defended their young professor.
No record of professorship at Ohio State University
Arday’s faculty page at Cambridge included a visiting professorship in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Ohio State University.
But when contacted by The New York Times, a spokesman for Ohio State said that the school had no record of employment for Arday.
Arday’s resignation came six days before the scheduled release of his memoir “Great and Unfortunate Things,” by Simon & Schuster.
In his memoir, Arday said he overcame autism and other disabilities that left him nonverbal until almost age 12. He was unable to read or write until age 18, then he earned a Ph.D. and became the youngest Black professor at Cambridge at age 23.
Arday claimed to have run 30 marathons in 35 days
Arday also claimed to have run 30 marathons in 35 days while raising as much as $7.5 million (USD) for charity. And that he was visited twice at his office by a masked intruder, once while wielding a knife.
Simon & Schuster has not pulled Arday’s memoir from the release schedule next week.
A spokesperson for the book publisher had no comment about Arday when contacted by The New York Times last week. The spokesperson cited Arday’s “professionalism and integrity he has brought to every stage of the publication.”