One of the key activities of the International Centre for Olympic Studies is the organization and hosting of lectures in one of three Lecture Series, addressing historical and topical issues in the space of Olympic and Paralympic Research. The series are named after, and celebrate the achievements of, scholars and administrators who have made significant contributions to Olympic research or the advance of the Olympic and Paralympic idea.
The beginning of the three Lecture Series hosted by ICOS predates the formal establishing of the Centre in 1990. It was in 1986 that Nigel Crowther delivered the first lecture in the Ion P. Ioannides Memorial lecture cycle. The John Howard Crocker Lecture series commenced with Bruce Kidd's lecture in 1990. The Earle F. Zeigler Lecture cycle was established in 1990 by the then Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario to recognize the achievements of Earle Zeigler as the Faculty's first Dean; Gerry Glassford delivered the first lecture in the Earle F. Zeigler Lecture series in that same year. Responsiblity for the Zeigler Lecture cycle devolved to the International Centre for Olympic Studies in 1998.
More than seventy lectures have been delivered by academics whose Olympic research is recognized throughout the world.