In 1949 Edwards joined the faculty of San Jose State University (then San Jose State College),[6] where he was professor of entomology until his retirement in 1990, after which he continued research and teaching as professor emeritus.[7] He specialized in beetles, and published several articles on the insects of Glacier National Park.[8] He was elected a life fellow of the California Academy of Sciences in 1977, and served as president of the Pacific Coast Entomological Society in 1948 and 1953, elected as honorary member in 1993.[9] During his career he supervised 90 master's students in entomology,[7] including scientists such as Terry L. Erwin, who credits Edwards with inspiring his interest in entomology.[10] To students and friends he was widely called "Doc".[11] In 1991 the university's entomology museum was dedicated to him and renamed the J. Gordon Edwards Entomology Museum.[12] He is commemorated in the scientific names of the beetles Bembidion edwardsi[13] and Nebria arkansana edwardsi.[14] Dr. Michael Ivie, past president of the Entomological Society of America, calls Edwards an "unsung mentor", writing that despite his influence he is little-known among entomologists beyond his students, a trait Ivie attributes to his teaching at a non-PhD granting university.[7]