Dr. Corliss Hines Edwards, Jr. was born in Macon, Georgia on June 11, 1934. He received a B.A. degree in English from Mercer University in 1956, an M.A. from the University of Georgia in 1960, and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 1970. On August 30, 1961 he married Nina Jo White and they had two sons, Hines Martin Edwards and Keith White Edwards.

Edwards worked as a teaching assistant at the University of Georgia from 1960 to 1961 and 1964 to 1966 and as an instructor at Clemson University from 1961 to 1964. He came to West Georgia College in 1966 as assistant professor, was promoted to associate professor in 1972, professor in 1980, and became Professor Emeritus in 1993 upon retirement. During the time he was an associate professor, Edwards served on many different committees that helped to improve and shape West Georgia College. His teaching emphases were American literature and Southern literature. He taught graduate seminars on Twain, Poe, Faulkner, Robinson, and Frost.

On September 10, 2009, Edwards passed away in Rome, Georgia from complications due to cancer surgery.