Jason Arday's controversial book released to US public with no mention of plagiarism scandal or Cambridge resignation

By JACK HARDY, NEWS REPORTER and DANIEL BATES, US REPORTER Published: 18:10, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 18:19, 11 August 2026 A controversial memoir by Jason Arday was released to the US public today - with no mention of the scandal that has derailed his academic career. Great and Unfortunate Things tells the extraordinary story of how Mr Arday rose to become the University of Cambridge’s youngest ever black professor after overcoming an autism diagnosis at the age of three, being unable to speak until he was 11 and to read or write until he was 18. But its release in the US by publishing giant Simon & Schuster comes just days after the 41-year-old resigned his post at the university amid an avalanche of revelations about seemingly tall tales from his past, as well as allegations of plagiarism in his PhD. The University of Cambridge had announced an investigation into Mr Arday’s ‘academic qualifications and honorary appointments’, after the Daily Mail revealed a string of universities disputed he held academic posts with him. It was a spectacular fall from grace for a man who had become the poster boy for diversity at one of the world’s elite academic institutions - yet his newly released memoir makes no mention of it whatsoever. Instead, Great and Unfortunate Things hit the shelves in the US today with its pages still saying the author is ‘currently’ the 2002 Professorial Chair in the Sociology of Education at Cambridge University. It also states that Mr Arday is still the ‘youngest black academic to hold a professorship at the university’, even though he has resigned. There are no author’s notes or publisher’s notes that have been added to the book to reflect the crisis that has dealt a hammer blow to his credibility. The closest Mr Arday comes to acknowledging any kind of controversy surrounding his appointment does not appear until the epilogue, where he writes: ‘Sadly, almost every good thing that has happened to me has come with some kind of cost and my appointment to Cambridge has been no exception. ‘I cannot sugar-coat the fact that there have been those who have been outraged and offended by the idea of a black professor at such an elite institution. ‘I have continued to face harassment and persecution as the subject of targeted campaigns driven by racial animus.’ This section, however, appeared in earlier drafts of the book and does not refer to the more recent controversies concerning his career. Great and Unfortunate Things had a poor first day of sales in the US, entering at 39,300th in the overall Kindle store rankings and 220th in the memoir charts. 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 Critics have accused Professor Arday, pictured on This Morning in 2023, of taking chunks of his PhD thesis from research by another student, leading him to admit errors in his work Mr Arday's biography 'Great and Unfortunate Things' was published today in the US Last week, it was reported that publisher Simon & Schuster had quietly watered down claims about Mr Arday’s eye-popping personal achievements from the final edit of his book. An earlier draft of the memoir, obtained by US investigative journalist Benjamin Ryan, showed references to his supposed multi-million pound fundraising efforts had been weeded out during the editing process. Mr Arday claimed to The Guardian newspaper that he would be paid '1.4 million' for his memoir, although he did not specify whether this was pounds or US dollars. As questions over his life story mounted in recent weeks, Mr Arday was forced to accept that various details were not entirely accurate, saying he did not personally raise £5.5million for charity as he once claimed, but was part of a 'syndicate' of more than 100 fundraisers, whom he could not name as they had signed non-disclosure agreements. He also clarified that he had not run 600 miles in six days for charity - as he has said in the past - but instead supposedly completed the feat over 12 days. The Daily Mail revealed last week that Mr Arday once said he was awarded an MBE in an interview he later asked to be scrubbed from the web. There is no mention of his name in any honours lists for the year in question, 2017, nor has the academic described being awarded an MBE or choosing to decline the honour in his 336-page memoir or any of the talks and interviews he has given either before or since. Sources told this newspaper that Mr Arday asked the hosts of the Before Our Friends Die podcast to delete the episode from their archive last year, citing unspecified ‘security’ concerns. Critics have accused Mr Arday of copying significant chunks of his PhD thesis from earlier research published by another student, leading him to admit to a series of errors in his work. The University of Cambridge initially held out against taking formal action against Mr Arday, suggesting in a statement that he was the victim of a 'vile campaign to undermine his credibility'. But after the Daily Mail revealed fresh questions about the academic posts Mr Arday claimed to hold on his CV, the university said it had ‘begun an investigation following new information about Mr Arday’s academic qualifications and honorary appointments’. Four prestigious universities in Britain, the US and South Africa all contradicted details of Mr Arday’s professional background, which are listed on the website of Jesus College, where he was a fellow. His official college biography claimed he was a visiting professor at the Ohio State University in the US, the University of Glasgow and Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. Spokesmen for all three universities have since denied he holds such a post with them. His college profile also described him as an 'honorary professor at Durham University in the Department of Sociology'. Although Mr Arday previously held several roles at Durham, the Daily Mail revealed last week that he no longer has any 'formal' position there, contradicting his online biography. Mr Arday struck a defiant tone in his resignation statement, refusing to accept any wrongdoing and condemning 'an unrelenting level of public scrutiny and personal attack' against him. He previously insisted he was not a 'liar and fantasist' after doubts were raised about his sensational list of personal achievements. In a statement following Mr Arday’s resignation, the University of Cambridge said it would also investigate ‘the circumstances around Jason Arday’s appointment and tenure’, adding: ‘The findings will feed into a review of the process for the appointment of senior academic roles.’