Edward Delayhay Osborn, a member of the faculty of the Washburn Law School at Topeka, is a native of Kansas and a son of one of the state's most distinguished and esteemed citizens, Thomas Andrew Osborn, who was honored by state and nation with offices of great importance and responsibility. He served as governor of Kansas for the term of 1873 to 1877; was afterward appointed United States minister to Chili, and later held the same diplomatic office in Brazil.

Edward D. Osborn was born at Leavenworth, Sept. 3, 1871, and spent the earlier days of his boyhood in Topeka and South America, where his father's official duties required his residence. On leaving Brazil the family returned to Leavenworth and there he entered the public schools, and later became a student in Washburn Academy at Topeka. In 1890 he entered Williams College in Massachusetts, where he studied for three years and then returned to Topeka and prepared himself for the legal profession, reading law in the office of Rossington, Smith & Dallas, and was admitted to the bar in 1895. He had his first practice under Judge A. H. Horton in the legal department of the Missouri Pacific Railway Company and remained in its employ at Topeka for several years. He then formed a partnership with Hon. Alex. M. Harvey, formerly lieutenant-governor of Kansas, establishing a law firm that continued to occupy a place of much prominence at the Topeka bar until 1905, when Mr. Osborn retired from the practice of his profession to become a member of the faculty of the Washburn College Law School. He was appointed acting-dean of the law school in 1907 and held that position for two years. In his political views Mr. Osborn is a supporter of the Republican party, but he has never, like his father, taken an active part in political life. He is a member of the Shawnee county, the Kansas state, and the American bar associations and holds membership in the Topeka Club and the Country Club. His fraternal affiliations are with the order of Elks.