Edward G. High received his bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees at Indiana University. He taught at North Carolina College and Prairie View A&M University before joining the Meharry Medical College faculty in Nashville in 1953. High was chair of Meharry's biochemistry department from 1967 until he resigned in 1982. While at Meharry he also taught part-time at Tennessee State and Fisk Universities.

High achieved wide recognition in his field and had served the community, the state, and the nation in a number of official positions. High had been a member of the executive committee of the Tennessee Nutrition Council, chair of the Governor's Advisory Committee to the Tennessee Commission on Aging, and a member of the Board of Examiners for Nursing Home Administrators. Additionally, he served on committees and councils for the National Institutes of Health, the American Institute of Nutrition, the American Medical Association, and the National Science Foundation. High had also been a member of the board of directors of the Oak Ridge Associate Universities and held a special certificate in nuclear chemistry from the Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. High was a visiting professor of nutrition at the university of Tehran, Iran, in 1966-1967.