The article is dedicated to the upcoming centenary of the birth of an outstanding Russian scientist, one of the founders of the direction of training specialists in the field of physical and technical education in the Urals, Professor Sergei Pavlovich Raspopin. He belonged to the generation that went through the Great Patriotic War. He was one of the first graduates of the Faculty of Physics and Technology of the Ural Polytechnic Institute and worked there all his life as the head of one of the leading departments, and then as a professor. The authors describe his scientific and pedagogical activities, characterize the importance of his scientific achievements for the development of science in our country, reveal the peculiarities of the formation of his scientific school.