Cambridge appoints Jason Beer KC to lead review into death of Jason Arday
Cambridge University has appointed Jason Beer KC, a senior barrister, to lead an independent review into the death of Jason Arday, the university's former professor of the sociology of education. The Guardian reported the appointment.
Arday, who was 41, died at his home in south London while facing publicised allegations of plagiarism and inconsistencies in statements about his career. He denied the accusations of plagiarism. He had been a Fellow of Jesus College in the university.
On 5 August, Cambridge said it would open an investigation into Arday's academic qualifications. He resigned hours later and was found dead nine days after that announcement.
Beer's review will examine how Cambridge handled allegations of research and other misconduct made against Arday before his resignation. It will also look at the university's recruitment of him, and its support for him, as its youngest-ever Black professor, appointed at age 37. Beer was lead counsel to the statutory inquiry into the Post Office Horizon IT system, a public inquiry into the computer system used by the Post Office. Cambridge University describes the appointment as Part Two of the Independent Review.
The university said its review will look at its "decision-making and actions" before Arday's death. BBC News reported the university's description of that review.
Beer's review is the second of two independent reviews into Cambridge's involvement with Arday. The first, announced in September, asked Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor for north-west England, to focus on the support given to Arday in the period immediately before his death.
