Cambridge University Launches Investigation into Professor Arday's Appointment
Probe targets 2022 hiring and tenure amid plagiarism allegations and questions over academic standards.
Carla Rooney
The University of Cambridge will investigate Professor Jason Arday’s 2022 appointment and subsequent tenure.
Fellow academics accuse Mr. Arday of copying others' work and inventing previous academic posts. Claims also allege he plagiarized his PhD thesis and other research, alongside alleged false claims in his upcoming memoir.
Professor Arday denies any plagiarism, stating the recent furor has led to an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack.
Vice-Chancellor Deborah Prentice confirmed the university will now investigate the circumstances surrounding Professor Arday's appointment by the Faculty of Education in 2022 and his time at Cambridge since his appointment nearly four years ago.
We will now investigate the circumstances around his appointment by the Faculty of Education back in 2022 and his time here in Cambridge since his appointment nearly four years ago.
She added, "That investigation, as you say, should be thorough and transparent, and will be carried out independently by senior academics from within and beyond Cambridge."
The Vice-Chancellor acknowledged the case has damaged the university. She maintained, "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."
Critics accuse the university of compromising its academic standards to appoint Mr. Arday. This was allegedly driven by a desire to bolster its diversity, equality, and inclusion record.
The Faculty of Education at Cambridge University has made its website private.
Elsewhere, an employment tribunal found that Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice had 'shut down' a whistleblower's grievances.
Cambridge University also hired Farah Ahmed as an assistant research professor in its Faculty of Education. Dr. Farah Ahmed reportedly had historic links to the extreme group Hizb ut-Tahrir, which was banned in the UK in 2024.
Dr. Farah Ahmed is understood to have written a chapter for a pamphlet published by Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2002. In it, she attacked 'western education' as a 'threat' to Muslims.
Dr. Farah Ahmed is also alleged to have criticized British schools for presenting 'polygamy or marriage under the age of 16' as 'archaic and discriminatory to women,' while branding democracy a 'corrupt tradition.'
Cambridge University previously investigated a professor for plagiarism in 2020.