The article is devoted to an important period in the history of agricultural engineering education at Russian State Agrarian University - Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy - the 120-year history of the Agricultural Machinery Department of the Institute of Mechanical and Power Engineering named after V.P. Goryachkin. The authors distinguish six stages of the Department’s development - from its origin in the depths of the Petrovsky Agricultural and Forestry Academy, the Department’s establishment at the Moscow Agricultural Institute in 1901, and its development in the 20 th -21 st centuries. Particular attention focuses on the contribution of the founder and longterm head of the Department, academician VP. Goryachkin - his developing agricultural mechanics and establishing an agricultural engineering school in our country.