An inquest has begun into the death of Jason Arday, the former University of Cambridge professor at the centre of a plagiarism row.
He was found dead at his home in London on 14 August, days after resigning from his post.
His appointment as Cambridge’s youngest ever black professor at the age of 37 in 2023 was hailed at the time as a progressive moment.
Senior coroner Dr Julian Morris said on Wednesday: “The various reports have given me reason to suspect that Professor Arday died an unnatural death 12 days ago.”
He told London Inner South Coroner’s Court: “It therefore follows that I must open an investigation.”
The Metropolitan Police said at the time that Arday’s death was being treated as unexpected and was “not believed to be suspicious”.
Arday was found “unresponsive” by family members at his home in Battersea, the inquest heard on Wednesday. Despite resuscitation efforts he was pronounced dead, the inquest was told.
The 41-year-old had faced allegations of plagiarism and questions about some of his achievements. He denied the claims, but admitted errors in his work.
He said controversy about his work had led to “an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack”.
The claims emerged after another academic – self-defined “race realist” Nathan Cofnas, who was sacked from his Cambridge role in 2024 – said he found numerous instances of plagiarism in the professor’s work.
Arday said some errors arose because of his autism, as he relied on using mimicry to make sense of information. Such scrutiny would find similar errors in work by other academics, he said.
After his death, his family issued a statement saying they were “in shock to have lost this amazing father, partner, brother, uncle and son”.
They added: “The campaign of misinformation was too much for Jason, who was a gentle man and who always wanted to see the best in everyone.”
There have been calls for a public inquiry into media coverage surrounding the former Cambridge professor before his death.
Arday’s memoir is due to be published in the UK on Thursday. The publisher, Simon & Schuster, announced on Monday that the book will be released as planned, with his family saying: “It is only right that we honour his wishes.”