This popular major at Stanford produced some of the biggest names in tech

BI

Symbolic Systems is one of the most popular majors at Stanford.

It's also one of the toughest programs to get through as it combines courses in psychology, computer science, and linguistics.

Not surprisingly, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg once said Symbolic Systems majors were "among the most talented people in the world." 

That elite group includes these 13 Silicon Valley power players:

Reid Hoffman is the cofounder and chairman of LinkedIn. He graduated in 1989 with a degree in symbolic systems and cognitive science.

REUTERS/Fred Prouser

Marissa Mayer is Yahoo's CEO. She used to lead Google's search and map products after graduating from the symbolic systems program in 1997.

Thomson Reuters

Mike Krieger is the cofounder of Instagram, the photo sharing site acquired by Facebook for $1 billion. He got both of his bachelor's and master's degrees in symbolic systems.

YouTube/ Web Summit

See the rest of the story at Business Insider