Through the generosity of Stephen Adler, the lectureship was established in 1999 in order to honor the contribution of his parents, Ruth and Irving Adler, to mathematics and science education. The lectures are intended to be accessible to non-mathematicians. Below are the past invited speakers and lecture topics.
| Year | Lecturer/Affiliation | Title |
| 2013 | Etienne Ghys UMPA, ENS Lyon |
Dynamics in Dimension 3: Geometry of Birkhoff Sections |
| 2010 | Curtis McMullen Harvard University |
Entrophy, Algebraic Integers and Moduli of Surfaces |
| 2008 | Joan Birman Columbia University |
Lorenz Knots and Links |
| 2004 | Robert Bryant Duke University |
Calibrations in Geometry and Topology |
| 2000 | Daniel Quillen Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford |
Modules over Nonunital Rings |