Britain honored the memory of former Cambridge professor Jason Ardey
In the United Kingdom, politicians and members of the education community have expressed their condolences following the death of former Cambridge University professor Jason Ardey. He was found dead at a home in south London on Friday, August 14, according to The Guardian. The Metropolitan Police stated that the death is being treated as unexpected but is not considered suspicious.
In a statement released through Simon & Schuster UK, Ardey’s family said they were in shock over the loss of an “amazing father, partner, brother, uncle, and son.” Last week, he stepped down from his position as a professor at the University of Cambridge amid allegations of plagiarism, which he denied.
Andy Burnham called Ardey’s death “a tragedy on many levels” and urged people not to jump to conclusions but to reflect on the circumstances of the incident. London Mayor Sadiq Khan stated that Ardey had been subjected to unacceptable public harassment and a smear campaign. According to Khan, this death should serve as a wake-up call for society.
Read more breaking news on the UA.News Telegram channel.
Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Eddie stated that a vicious media campaign had been waged against Ardey, one that also targeted those who supported him. Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said the scholar had been subjected to a vicious public attack, which, in his view, was accompanied by racist remarks.
Clinical psychologist and director of the Center for Autism Research Simon Baron-Cohen, who was a friend of Ardey’s, said he had been in contact with him on the morning of August 14. According to him, in voicemails, Ardey said he could not go on.
Ardey had previously been accused of plagiarism in his doctoral dissertation. He denied all allegations, and an investigation by Liverpool John Moores University, where he earned his degree, confirmed this year that the decision to award him a PhD was valid.
