Frederick Lugard was the first chairman (1926 to his death in 1945); Diedrich Hermann Westermann (1926 to 1939) and Maurice Delafosse (1926) were the initial co-directors.
[2] The IAI's mission is "to promote the education of the public in the study of Africa and its languages and cultures".
Its operations includes seminars, journals, monographs, edited volumes and stimulating scholarship within Africa.
Scholars whose work has been published by the institute include Emmanuel K. Akyeampong, Samir Amin, Karin Barber, Alex de Waal, Patrick Chabal, Mary Douglas, E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Jack Goody, Jane Guyer, Monica Hunter, Bronislaw Malinowski, Z. K. Matthews, D. A. Masolo, Achille Mbembe, Thomas Mofolo, John Middleton, Simon Ottenberg, J. D. Y. Peel, Mamphela Ramphele, Isaac Schapera, Monica Wilson and V. Y.
In 1928, the IAI (then IIALC) published an "Africa Alphabet" to facilitate standardization of Latin-based writing systems for African languages.