Jason Arday dead

[ThisWiseRobin]

Just putting this out there, but just heared.A sad end to a whole sorry mess.

I saw a video posted on X earlier of the ‘professor’ on some chat show where he had been nominated by his wife for some award for all he’d done for charity etc - she couldn’t even get the story straight as she declared he’d been unable to read and write till he was sixteen. He sat there looking completely gormless like he couldn’t quite believe how he’d managed to bluff his way to this point, quite an eye opener.

How unpleasant and distasteful to use the phrase “judge, jury and executioner” in this context.

Yes I saw that. His body language was very interesting. I believe the tv show gave him a free trip to New York to thank him.

I posted one post earlier and wrote I didn't know if Jason Arday was a non verbal severe autistic child who improved in his childhood. In this interview around 4 minutes he said that he was diagnosed with aspergers as a child. and I understand his case more by knowing this now..

Oh for goodness sake what a ridiculous and dishonest, disingenuous response. The ONLY reason to raise the question you did is to suggest blame on his relatives. The only thing worst than doing this is to try to pretend you were not with this, ‘I was only asking the question’ wide eyed crap.

It’s frankly disgusting to do this when when they have just lost someone to suicide. It’s a terrible way to lose someone with very difficult feelings to deal with, as I know too well. Arday is open to legitimate debate as he deliberately put his life story front and centre in the media. They did not.

Enjoy your histrionics.

There your ilk go again.

Stop deflecting with emotive language as if anyone is minimising suicide.

Again, asking where his loved ones were when he was lying, is a valid question. Someone has posted his own wife couldn’t keep the story straight.

Dead or not, there are questions to be asked of everyone.

and that sounds like being performatively offended but i may be mistaken.

“Judge, jury and executioner” is directed at the tendency here to treat partial information as sufficient to establish guilt and justify a person’s professional downfall

If you found the phrase unpleasant, that does not address whether it accurately describes the dynamic of the thread I was criticising.

My position is that expertise is needed to assess complex disciplinary issues responsibly, particularly where the discussion extends beyond identifying textual similarities to judging the validity, context and contribution of research.
We clearly disagree about that distinction, which to me, justify the perception that too many on this thread feel in a position to judge, evaluate, and cast verdict.

It’s legitimate nevertheless to wonder what those close to him thought about the public narrative he participated in. Maybe they questioned it, maybe they were shut down, maybe they were happy to enjoy actual and potential benefits accruing from it. This is speculation; his family did however refer to him as ‘gentle’ so it seems unlikely he coerced their apparent silence.

Faux indignation.

It is perfectly legitimate to question how complicit the family were in the fraud and monetary gain from it.

You’re assuming that because he said he was diagnosed with Aspergers as a child that means he was diagnosed with Aspergers as a child?

How are questions of his family relevant to anything? Questions of the behaviour academia and the media and JA himself are completely valid to understand what went to wrong in institutions we should be able to trust and to try to ensure that lessons are learned. What will be achieved by examining his family’s behaviour? This is a genuine question. I can’t see where the public interest is in this approach.

I didn’t say I was offended. I said it was unpleasant and distasteful because I believe it is. We can discuss a difficult and controversial topic, and disagree on many aspects (and I for one have found this thread particularly interesting as there are pp I agree with strongly on some issues and disagree with strongly on others which doesn’t usually happen on a single thread) whilst applying a little bit of sensitivity to the human side of this case.

Presumably because his close family would have lived experience over the years and would be in pole position to identify if the ‘achievements’ were based on reality . What their response may have been is speculation now but given the dramatic and extreme nature of some of his non- academic claims it is reasonable to question their perspective.

fair point yet I stand by my use of those three words for their actual meanings and part of a saying - although i think that you and I may agree on points linked to humanity and kindness more than may come across.

Many posters on that thread appeared keen to judge, act as the jury and deliver a verdict, despite having only partial information and no relevant disciplinary expertise. That is the behaviour I am criticising.

I do not consider those three words distasteful. I consider them an accurate description of what was happening - the readiness with which allegations, speculation and media coverage were turned into a public verdict.

i don’t know how the academic world works, but surely when first asked about potential plagiarism, you defend your post and give evidence of your research? Not go off to the police claiming harassment? Which he did to the emeritus professor who raised concerns. He also did something similar to a journalist when the journalist again queried his research. I do know that plagiarism at undergraduate level is taken extremely seriously, enough for disciplinary action and the potential to fail your degree. At a professional level I would assume it’s considerably more serious, and considered in a similar vein to cheating / fraud?
He did have an awful lot of bad luck poor man, and it’s quite extraordinary given all his difficulties what he managed to achieve; diagnosed with autism, global delay, deafness, dyscalculia, non-verbal until 11, unable to read and write until 18, then an attack which left him with epilepsy at 18, diagnosed with dyslexia in first year at university and then the removal of a benign brain tumour whilst doing his phd.
Yet through all of his difficulties he managed an extraordinary achievement.

'Dozens of Cambridge academics had signed a letter calling for an independent inquiry into how Arday was appointed. Cambridge initially stood by Arday, saying that the plagiarism allegations had been investigated by Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded Arday's doctorate.

The university [Cambridge] then changed its stance and said it opened an investigation "following new information about Professor Arday's qualifications and honorary appointments."

Prentice, the university's vice-chancellor, said this week that Cambridge will run a review of its hiring processes. She stressed that "our staff of colour are highly valued, for their scholarship, their achievements and the contributions they make to the institution and the wider academic community."

"This particular case is an aberration and should not be used to cast aspersions on their work or the legitimacy of their roles at Cambridge," she said Thursday.'

Omg. This quote above in bold. It's like she's taking about a different species. Says it all.

https://www.wxxinews.org/npr-news/2026-08-15/jason-arday-cambridge-professor-accused-of-plagiarism-is-found-dead

No, I don't think it is.

I think it is legitimate to discuss Arday's professional life as a university professor, and his publicly lived life as used by himself and others for self-promotion.

I do not think it is legitimate to drag his family into it. I don't think it's remotely acceptable to start talking about his children. I don't think it's ok to look into his private life. His family and children did not ask for this.

The family have now actually doubled down on his lies. Saying he didn't lie etc.

There’s astonishing hatred and bitterness on this thread. It’s been running for two days, hasn’t moved on as a debate and is getting increasingly vindictive. I’m fairly sure the thread will be taken down shortly.

What exactly do you expect his devastated grieving family to say?

Och, I’ve not seen any hatred.

I haven’t either. Disgust maybe but not hatred.