Updated 4:15pm with statements from Patti Hart and International Game Technology chairman Philip Satre.

The first one bites the dust. Yahoo director Patti Hart will not seek reelection at the board’s annual meeting. The company has been on shaky grounds for the last week after chief executive Scott Thompson was found lying about his education on SEC filings.

“After careful consideration, I have decided not to stand for re-election to the Yahoo! Board of Directors at the upcoming annual meeting of stockholders,” Hart said in a statement. “My primary responsibilities are to serve as chief executive officer of IGT [International Game Technology] and to eliminate activities that may interfere with my ability to carry out my commitments to IGT and its valued stakeholders.”

Hart took a lead role in vetting Thompson, who at the time was president of Ebay’s PayPal. Thompson had listed a computer science degree on his PayPal biography, which turned out to be falsified. Dan Loeb, head of Yahoo’s largest outstanding shareholder Third Point, found that Stonehill College — the college Thompson attended — hadn’t even created a computer science major program until years after he graduated.

Hart’s education credentials were also called into question, although the focus has remained justifiably on Thompson. International Game Technology chairman Philip Satre dispelled that rumor, however.

“After a thorough review, the IGT Board of Directors has found no material inconsistencies in Patti Hart’s academic credentials.  The Board unanimously stands behind Patti as our CEO and fully supports her leadership and the direction she has set for the Company. Furthermore, we believe her service as a member of Yahoo!’s Board of Directors could become a distraction from her responsibilities to IGT.  We have asked Patti not to seek re-election to the Yahoo! Board and we will closely monitor future developments at Yahoo! and their impact on Patti’s responsibilities to IGT.”

Given Hart’s failure to find the inaccuracy (or her decision to ignore it), she is giving herself the boot. Yahoo is launching an investigation into how this lie got through the gates and is hiring a law firm to help it do so, according to All Things D.

The scandal began when the board denied four director candidates Loeb was supporting, one of whom was himself. When Yahoo offered a board seat to only one of his candidates and another to a “mutually agreeable” candidate, he declared a proxy war on the company. Loeb has since demanded Thompson be fired.

Thompson released an apology for the lie last night saying, “I want you to know how deeply I regret how this issue has affected the company and all of you. We have all been working very hard to move the company forward, and this has had the opposite effect. For that, I take full responsibility, and I want to apologize to you.”

He continued, “I know the board plans to conduct the review thoroughly and independently, and I respect that process. I am hopeful that this matter will be concluded promptly. But, in the meantime, we have a lot of work to do.”

via All Things D; Bull image via Shutterstock

There’s a Republican tidal wave growing to take back the Senate and this wave is going nationwide.  Nowhere is this seen as clearly as in a seat that the Democrats never thought they’d lose.   Former Notre Dame quarterback and astronaut Mark Kirk is poised to win President Obama’s former Senate seat in Illinois .

At a news conference today, Kirk who first gained prominence writing a series of hit songs for the band Jefferson Starship in the 1980s including We Built This City and Sarah, looked every bit the front runner.  “I have made mistakes concerning certain aspects of my accomplishments and experiences, and I apologize for those mistakes and I pledge to correct those errors,” Kirk said. “I am not perfect and was careless. I will do better and I will make sure this never happens again.”

Kirk, who designed the 46 defense for the 1986 Super Bowl Champion Bears, was unjustly attacked by the media after several claims he made about his background in the military and in education were shown to be false.   Kirk apologized with all the grace and aplomb that one would expect from the former Cousin Oliver on the Brady Bunch and while he could not guarantee that he would not do it again, the former Starlight Express cast member did promise to apologize the next time it happens.