The author, being a former student of the Department of Psychology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, and now is teacher, professor, remembers those who created and maintained such traditions of the Department as depth of knowledge and coherence of ideas, methodological clarity and dialogue, holistic view of the issue and using problem solving in teaching, and also the joint work of professors and students in the way of perceiving the truth. According to the author the 50th anniversary of the Department of Psychology is an occasion to both recall the path members of the Department went over the years, including several epochs, and to outline the prospects for further development. Considerable attention is paid to the personality of G.M. Andreeva, who is a gifted teacher, a brilliant scholar, and one of the founders of social psychology in the Russia. Particular attention is drawn to Galina Andreeva collecting the brightest staff of the Chair of Social Psychology, whose key feature was involvement in both the scientific and also collective life of the Department, which contributed to the development of the new important branch of psychology. The author also singles out the figure of the wonderful teacher L.A. Petrovskaya who encouraged the students to cherish their individuality as she believed it to be the main tool of the professional psychologist. With much gratitude the author recalls tips for organizing the teaching process received from A.U. Kharash.

The paper characterizes the current state and the importance of the Department, and outlines the prospects for further development. In particular, the author speaks of the need for developing student personal involvement in professional activities, and also of creating favourable conditions at the Deaprtment for a student successful transition from training to real life.