Then: (93) You'd think his three-part series on the sub-eating executive raised by wolves might have tipped them off.

Esteemed newspaper-of-record The New York Times confesses in May that it has polluted the record with dozens of articles written by 27-year-old hotshot reporter and indefatigable faker Jayson Blair. In a 6,500-word article, the Times details the extent of Blair's journalistic flimflam: Not only pretending to cover stories in other cities while hanging out in his Brooklyn apartment, Blair even filed for travel expenses using receipts from neighborhood shops and restaurants. In June, as a staff mutiny simmers, two of Blair's chief enablers, top editors Howell Raines and Gerald Boyd, walk the plank. Blair later gets a book deal; the Times gets an ombudsman.

Now: Better double-check that senior thesis

Blair releases a memoir, "Burning Down My Masters' House: My Life at The New York Times," in which he blames his behavior on undiagnosed bipolar disorder. Book sales are dismal, and Blair becomes an advocate for mental health. Now working toward a B.A. in business communications, Blair says he wants to pursue graduate work in psychopathology and organizational change.