Charlie Edwards began his career with Drake University as a member of the Board of Trustees in 1989. He spent 13 years on the Board and chaired the Academic Affairs Committee. In 2002, Edwards was named Dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in March 2002. In June 2003, he added Dean of the College of Business and Public Administration to his responsibilities.

In August 2004, Edwards was named the Dean of the School of Management and Communication, a joint venture of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the College of Business and Public Administration.

He serves on five community boards in Iowa: the Greater Des Moines Community Foundation, Des Moines Art Center, the Iowa College Foundation, the State Board of Education, and President of the Gardner and Florence Call Cowles Foundation.

Edwards received his bachelor degree from the University of Colorado and was awarded an honorary doctor of human letters degree from Iowa Wesleyan College. Prior to his Drake career, Edwards had amassed 26 years of industry and administrative experience with The Des Moines Register and Tribune Co. and the Gannett Co. Inc., including 12 years as publisher and president of The Des Moines Register. During his tenure as publisher, the newspaper won three Pulitzer Prizes and was named the best of Gannett's 97 daily newspapers three times.

Edwards left The Register in 1996 and spent the 1996-97 academic year teaching at Drake as the visiting professional in residence in the SJMC. In 1998, he joined Visionary Systems Ltd. as an owner and manager. In 2000, he formed Iowa Title Plant LLC, which builds searchable databases of indexed public records and operates four Iowa abstract and title offices.