Adrian was educated at Swarthmore College and Westminster School, before coming up to Cambridge in 1945 to read medicine at Trinity College, Cambridge, and University College, London. He pursued advanced research into cellular physiology, becoming Professor of Cell Physiology at Cambridge University in 1978. He was a fellow of Corpus Christi, Cambridge (1955–61) and Churchill College, Cambridge (1961-81) before becoming Master of Pembroke College in 1981. He served as Master until 1992. He also served a term as Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University. Adrian was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society for his contributions to physiology in 1977. In 1977 he became the second Baron Adrian after the death of his father. He sat in the House of Lords as a cross-bencher.