In today’s constantly evolving world, universities should become not only transmitters of knowledge, but also be more proactive in social relations system in terms of communities to which they belong. The article analyzes the role of universities in Tomsk (Russia, West Siberian region) in their local community. The historical method provided tracing the genesis and transformation of interaction between universities and the Tomsk community from the end of XIX century to the present day. On the basis of analysis of a wide range of sources on the history of Tomsk universities, a conclusion that the leading function of universities in their interaction with the local community since their foundation was the cultural and educational one was reached. A detailed analysis of the forms of the function realization and their transformation within different periods of existence of the Russian state has been carried out in the article. The participation of local community in the foundation of, essentially, the first university in Tomsk has been noted regarding material and financial aid. The identification of features of the current stage of interaction between universities and local communities required the use of sociocultural approach relevant to the processes taking place both in Russia and globally. The study of university- community interaction through the range of notions of “creative capital”, “social capital”, and “social networking” has revealed a new – socially transformative – function of the university. The essence of this function is that the university and its representatives as independent actors become the drivers of changes in society, directing and structuring the network interaction in the cognitive- informational, value-semantic and social-organizational aspects. In conclusion, it is proved that the socially transformative function of universities is essential for the self-identification of the local community members and the formulation of their key interests. The difficulties in the implementation of this function due to the peculiarities of the historical development of Russian society as a whole are also noted.