In 2000, the year TCF was founded, the Trustees established a fund for Turkish Language Instruction at the University of Chicago. The gift continues to support the Ayaslı Lectureship in Turkish Language Instruction at the University to this day.

The Lectureship is held by Dr. Kağan Arık, a scholar with a long teaching experience in Modern Turkish Language and Literature, and a background in Central Asian Turkic Studies.

Over the course of 16 years since the Ayaslı Lectureship was established, over 1300 students enrolled in the Turkish or Turkic language courses offered at the University of Chicago.