Former Cambridge Professor Embroiled in Plagiarism Scandal Resigns Amid Bizarre Claims A former Cambridge professor has resigned amid allegations of plagiarism and bizarre claims. Jason Arday, who became the university's youngest black professor, is accused of copying parts of his PhD from another student. He also claimed to have been awarded an MBE, but later deleted the interview from the podcast's YouTube channel. Arday's memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, is due to be published next week. A former Cambridge professor embroiled in a plagiarism scandal once claimed he was awarded an MBE in an interview he later asked to be scrubbed from the web, the Daily Mail can reveal. Jason Arday resigned on Wednesday from the university, where he had become a poster boy for diversity as its youngest ever black professor, after an investigation was launched into dubious claims on his CV. It followed an avalanche of revelations about seemingly tall tales from the 41-year-old's past, as well as allegations he had copied parts of his PhD from another student. The latest bizarre development earlier today involved claims he was paid 1.4 million for his memoirs.The saga now threatens to overshadow the expected publication next week of his memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, which describes how he overcame autism so severe it left him non-verbal until the age of 11 to rise to the top of academia. Yet one particularly extraordinary episode from his life does not feature anywhere in the book, despite Professor Arday once talking about it on a podcast: being awarded, but apparently declining, an MBE.In a 2023 interview with the Before Our Friends Die podcast, he described how his supposedly prolific fundraising for charity had led to him being offered the honour in 2017. The episode has since been deleted from the show's YouTube channel, but audio of the interview has been obtained by the Mail. Jason Arday became a poster boy for diversity as the university's youngest black professor, but is now facing questions about his academic record and bizarre claims.Arday's biography Great and Unfortunate Things is due to be published on Tuesday in the US. Critics have accused Professor Arday of taking chunks of his PhD thesis from research by another student, leading him to admit errors in his work. In it, Professor Arday says: In 2017, I was awarded an MBE for services to charity.For me, there were two things: there's a lot of people who do amazing work and helped me get to that point, so if there's a way of acknowledging it, that would be the first thing. But the thing that's probably bigger than that is - for me personally - you can't critique empire and do work on race and accept that kind of award.Professor Arday's resignation letter in full Dear colleagues, It is with profound sadness that I write to resign, with immediate effect, from my position at the University of Cambridge and Jesus College. When I accepted the extraordinary honour of becoming Professor of Sociology at Cambridge, it was, without question, the greatest professional privilege of my life.To become the youngest Black professor in the University's history was something I could scarcely have imagined as a child growing up with a diagnosis of autism, unable to speak until I was eleven years old. The response from so many people across the world was overwhelming. Thousands celebrated not simply my appointment, but what it represented: that talent, perseverance and hope can triumph over even the greatest adversity.It has been the privilege of my life to teach my students, to learn alongside them, and to witness their curiosity, kindness and ambition. They have given me far more than I could ever have given them. Sadly, the years since my appointment have also been marked by an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack. While criticism is an inevitable part of academic life, what I have experienced has gone far beyond scholarly disagreement.The relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary have taken a profound toll on me and on those I love. I have tried to continue because I believe deeply in the values of higher education, in rigorous scholarship, and in the transformative power of universities. I have tried because of my students, my colleagues and the countless people who have written to tell me that my journey gave them hope.But there comes a point when the personal cost becomes too great. I have a family. I want to be present for them. I want to reclaim some peace, some privacy and some semblance of an ordinary life.I no longer wish to feel as though I am living under a constant spotlight, where every aspect of my life is subject to public examination and judgement. For my own wellbeing, for my family, and for those who have stood by me throughout this difficult period, I have concluded that the only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away.This decision should not be interpreted as a loss of faith in scholarship or in the values that first brought me to Cambridge. Nor should it be mistaken for an acceptance of the narratives that have surrounded me. It is simply the decision of someone who has reached the limits of what any person should reasonably be expected to endure. To my students: thank you. Teaching you has been the greatest honour of my academic career