Dan Loeb, an activist investor in Yahoo, is alleging that CEO Scott Thompson lied to shareholders and the SEC about getting a computer science degreeand is calling on the board to take immediate action.

The letter also accuses Director Patti Hart of misrepresenting her degree from Illinois State University as one in marketing and economics though she actually got a degree in business administration. Loeb, the CEO of Third Point, which owns 5.8% of Yahoo, wrote that he discovered that Thompson didn’t hold a degree in computer science by doing a “rudimentary Google search.” He then verified with Thompson’s alma mater, Stonehill College, that Thompson’s degree is actually in accounting, according to the letter. Loeb continues:

Furthermore, Stonehill College informed us that it did not begin awarding computer science degrees until 1983 — four years after Mr. Thompson graduated. We inquired whether Mr. Thompson had taken a large number of computer science courses, perhaps allowing him to justify to himself that he had “earned” such a degree. Instead, we learned that during Mr. Thompson’s tenure at Stonehill only one such course was even offered – Intro to Computer Science. Presumably, Mr. Thompson took that course.

Reps from Yahoo could not be reached for comment, but a Stonehill rep confirmed that Thompson got a degree in business administration, not computer science and that the college didn’t offer a computer science degree until 1983.

Third Point’s latest missive comes amid a proxy fight between the company and Yahoo. The row began in late March after Yahoo named three directors to its board after failing to reach a compromise with Third Point, which had recommended its own list of nominees.

Thompson, a former PayPal exec, became Yahoo’s CEO on Jan. 4.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

More About: Scott Thompson, Third Point, Yahoo

For more Business coverage:

• Follow Mashable Business on Twitter
• Become a Fan on Facebook
• Subscribe to the Business channel
• Download our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad