The alley was created in 1954 after the completion of the MSU university complex. It got its name due to the busts of outstanding Russian scientists placed along it. Among those immortalized in stone are the academician and founder of MSU Mikhail Lomonosov, mathematician Nikolai Lobachevsky, creator of the famous periodic table Dmitri Mendeleev, inventor of radio Alexander Popov, renowned physiologist Ivan Pavlov, geneticist Ivan Michurin, and 17 other distinguished scientists. The statues were created by various sculptors, such as Joseph Kozlovsky, Nikolai Dydykin, Matvey Manizer, and other masters. In the center of the alley is the fountain 'Lily.' The alley was restored in 2017.