[2][8] Edwards’ first academic appointment was as an instructor of literature at Bethel Military Academy in 1878, where he remained until 1880, when he joined the faculty of Bingham School, where he stayed until 1884.

In 1885, he joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas and remained there until he completed his doctoral degree in 1891 and went on to postdoctoral studies in Europe.

[1][9] Later in Edwards’ presidency, several new buildings were constructed on campus, including Ranger, Washburn, Bliss, Edwards, and Lippitt Halls, that were located around the central quadrangle of the college originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the number of students increased from 250 to over 650 by the end of his tenure.

[1][9] Edwards died in office on April 3, 1930, and was buried at the New Fernwood Cemetery in Kingston, Rhode Island.

[2] In 1928, a large lecture hall with a performance stage and theater seating was built on the central quadrangle of Rhode Island State College and named Edwards Auditorium in his honor.