The article discusses the 85th anniversary of the Doctor of Philology, Professor of Saratov State University, M. A. Kormilitsyna. A well- known scientist in Russia and abroad, Margarita Anatolyevna has devoted her whole life to scientific activity. Together with her teacher and friend, O. B. Sirotinina, M. A. Kormilitsyna was at the origin of Saratov Linguistic School of the functioning of the Russian language. The article highlights the main stages of the scientist’s scientific activity, presents the areas of scientific interests: syntax, stylistics and culture of the speech of the Russian language, colloquial speech, the language of the media, etc. All scientific and educational activities of Margarita Anatolyevna are based on the principles of Saratov Linguistic School, the main methodological principles of which are attentive and unbiased attitude to language, its facts, accuracy in their analysis, striving not for superficial, but for a deep understanding of the essence of linguistic phenomena. The article reveals the significance of the works of M. A. Kormilitsyna for modern linguistics: her works on colloquial speech, the language of the media, the effectiveness of communication, overcoming communicative risks, cause numerous responses in the scientific community. M. A. Kormilitsyna pays a lot of attention in her work to editorial activities (work on the interuniversity collection of scientific papers Problems of speech communication, participation in the editorial board of the journal Media Linguistics, etc.). The article reveals not only the scientific, but also the pedagogical activity of the scientist: students and teachers know Margarita Anatolyevna as a highly erudite, creatively working teacher. M. A. Kormilitsyna has been the head of the Department of the Russian Language, Speech Communication and Russian as a Foreign Language (the new name of the department) for 25 years. Colleagues respect Margarita Anatolyevna for her honesty, integrity, and friendly attitude towards people.