The summer lectureship program was established by the Nutritional Sciences Council in 1975 for the purpose of bringing distinguished scientists to the Iowa State University campus to teach a one-credit short course for graduate students and faculty on topics of current interest in nutrition. A summary of previous lectureships is below:
| Year | Course Title | Instructors |
| 2014 | The microbiome in nutrition, health, and disease: Friends with benefits | Dr. Bryan White, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL; Dr. Carl Yeoman, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT |
| 2013 | Proteins in human health and performance | Dr. J. Rathmacher, Metabolic Technologies, Inc., Ames, IA. Dr. N.N. Abumrad, Dept. of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Dr. P. Atherton, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, England Dr. D. Paddon-Jones, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX Dr. B.B. Rasmussen, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX Dr. M. Robinson, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN Dr. J. Wilson, University of Tampa, Tampa, FL Dr. A. Gautier-Stein, University of Lyon, Lyon, France Dr. A. Barbul, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, NJ and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Dr. T.G. Anthony, Rutgers University Dr. J. Green, Kemin Human Nutrition and Health, Des Moines, IA |
| 2012 | Prenatal origins of disease | Dr. Christine Campbell, Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA |
| 2011 | Molecular endocrinology | Dr. Patricia Hoyer, Dept. of Physiology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ |
| 2010 | Nutrition, microbiota, and inflammatory states | Dr. Burim N. Ametaj, Dept. of Agricultural, Food, and Nutritional Science |
| 2009 | Protein metabolism | Dr. Guoyao Wu, Professor, Department of Animal Science and Faculty of Nutrition, Texas A& M University, College Station, TX |
| 2008 | Diet and Human Health Issues | Dr. Michael Spurlock, Professor, Depts of Food Science and Human Nutrition and of Animal Science, ISU. Dr. Joan Thompson, Nutritionist, Preventive Medicine, and Chronic Disease Specialist, La Clinica de Raza, Oakland, CA Dr. Deborah Diersen-Schade, Research Fellow, Mead Johnson Nutritionals, Evansville, IN Dr. George Liepa, Professor, Dept. of Human, Environmental, and Consumer Resources, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI Dr. Mark Erlander, Chief Scientific Officer at AviaraDx, San Diego, CA Dr. Laura Woollett, Professor, Dept of Pathology, Genome Research Institute, University of Cincinnati Dr. Ling Li, Assoc. Professor, Dept. of Medicine, University of Alabama-Burmingham Dr. Nancy DiMarco, Director, Institute for Women's Health, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX |
| 2007 | Nutrition and cardiovascular disease | Dr. Timothy P. Carr, Professor of Nutritional Science, University of Nebraska Lincoln. |
| 2006 | Obesity: Is the food industry to blame? | Dr. Judy Stern,Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Nutrition and Internal Medicine at the University of California, Davis |
| 2005 | Nutrigenomics | Dr. Jim Kaput, University of California, Davis |
| 2004 | Meeting future global food needs | Dr. Hank Fitzhugh, director-general (retired), International Livestock Research Institute; Dr. Norman Borlaug, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Distinguished Professor of International Agriculture at Texas A&M University Chris Dowswell, special assistant to the president and director of communications, Sasakawa Africa Association Dr. Helen Jensen, professor of economics and head, Food and Nutrition Policy Division, Center for Agricultural & Rural Development Dr. Kristen Hessler, lecturer and bioethics outreach coordinator, ISU Department of Philosophy and the ISU Office of Biotechnology |
| 2003 | Molecular nutrition of trace elements | Roger Sunde, University of Missouri-Columbia |
| 2002 | Oxidative stress | Helmut Sies, Institute for Physiological Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany |
| 2001 | Sphingolipic metabolism | Alfred Merrill, Emory University |
| 2000 | Nutritional geography: Old field in a new package | L.E. Grivettic, Dept. Nutr. Sci. Univ. Calif.-Davis, Davis, CA |
| 1999 | Regulation of gene expression | Donald B. Jump, Department of Physiology, Michigan State University |
| 1998 | Nutrition and immunity | Simin N. Meydani, Tufts University, Boston MA |
| 1997 | Energy regulation | R.J. Martin, Department of Foods & Nutrition, University of Georgia, Athens, GA |
| 1996 | Alcohol and human health | C.S. Lieber, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, Veterinary Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, NY |
| 1995 | Metabolic modifiers and meat production | D.H. Beermann, Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY |
| 1994 | Nutritional programming of long-term outcomes in human infants | A. Lucas, MRC Dunn Nutritional Unit and University Department of Pediatrics, Cambridge, UK |
| 1993 | Energy metabolism in domestic livestock | B.W. McBride, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada |
| 1992 | Nutritional status and nutrient metabolism | A.C. Beynen, Department of Lab Animal Science, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands |
| 1991 | Diet and cancer | D. Birt, Eppley Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE |
| 1990 | Mitochondria | A.A. Tzagoloff, Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY |
| 1989 | Metabolic patterning | R.W. Hanson, Department of Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH |
| 1988 | Food safety | B. Swanson, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Washington State University, Pullman, WA |
| 1987 | Subcellular organelle biogenesis and function | P.B. Lazarow, Rockefeller University, New York, NY |
| 1986 | Dietary fiber in human and animal nutrition | P.J. Van Soest, Department of Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY |
| 1985 | Lipid metabolism in health and disease | J.M. Dietschy, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center, Dallas, TX |
| 1984 | Biology of aging | E.J. Masoro, Department of Physiology, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX |
| 1983 | Roles of cereals and legumes in the food supply | International symposium with 29 speakers |
| 1982 | Energy metabolism in animals | A.J.F. Webster, University of Bristol, Bristol, England |
| 1981 | Stores, sumps and sinks: The role of accumulating substances in the human body | D.S. McLaren, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 1980 | Animal products in human nutrition | An international symposium with 24 speakers [Co-sponsored by the Nutritional Foundation] |
| 1979 | Protein metabolism and its regulation | H.N. Munro, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA |
| 1978 | Radioimmunoassay | G.D. Niswender, Department of Physiology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO |
| 1977 | Use of in vivo kinetics in nutrition and metabolic research | N. Baker, Head, Tumor Lipid Research Lab, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1976 | Nutrition and drug interrelations | An international symposium with 20 speakers [Co-sponsored by the Nutritional Foundation] |
| 1975 | Gastrointestinal microbiology and mammalian nutrition | D. Savage and M.P. Bryant, Department of Animal Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois |