Broadcom Corp., the maker of chips for phones and consumer electronics, fired Senior Vice President Vahid Manian after questions surfaced about the validity of academic degrees listed in his company biography.

A search has begun for his replacement, the company said in a regulatory filing. Manian didn't earn degrees from the University of California at Irvine that are cited on the company's Web site, according to the school's registrar.

Manian also serves on the board of STEC Inc. with Microsemi Corp. Chief Executive Officer James Peterson, who faces separate questions about his credentials. Peterson, who lists degrees from Brigham Young University in government filings, never received them from that school, said Carri Jenkins, a university spokeswoman in Provo. Peterson did take classes there from 1978 to 1980, Jenkins said.

Manian's firing is the first action taken by one of the three businesses tied to the executives, which are all technology companies in California's Orange County. His departure follows the retirement of MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni, who stepped down last month after similar questions surfaced about his MBA from the University of Southern California. MGM said the claims didn't influence his decision.

Peterson said Wednesday that he "categorically denies" misrepresenting degrees from Brigham Young University.

"I am working directly with the university to clarify this situation," Peterson said in a statement. "I have every reason to expect that Brigham Young will investigate this allegation shortly and officially confirm my degrees."

Peterson said a background check on him may have mistakenly used the name James J. Patterson.

Jenkins said that after the statement was issued she checked degree records again and couldn't find any record of a degree for Peterson. She said she had been checking the right name.

"We are always very careful when we release this kind of information," she said.

A U.S. government security clearance application form provided by Peterson lists his position at Microsemi and states that he has bachelor's and MBA degrees from Brigham Young. A regulatory filing for STEC also lists the degrees.

Peterson was awarded an associate's degree in arts, sciences and general education from Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho, in December 1978, said Kyle Martin, registrar of Brigham Young University Idaho. In 2001, Ricks College became Brigham Young University Idaho, which is separate from the school in Utah, he said. As a former junior college, it couldn't have conferred a higher degree, he said.

The discrepancies were uncovered by Barry Minkow, co-founder of the Fraud Discovery Institute, which looks into the backgrounds of executives. Minkow served more than seven years in prison, from 1988 to 1995, after being convicted of fraud while running a company called ZZZZ Best Co.