Bold was born on June 16, 1909, in
New York City to Edward Bold and Louise (Krüsi) Bold. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from
Columbia University in 1929,
Phi Beta Kappa., his
Master of Science from the
University of Vermont in 1931, and his Ph.D. in botany in 1933 at Columbia. He married Mary E. Douthit on June 8, 1943. He worked at the University of Vanderbilt from 1932 to 1939 and again from 1945 to 1957. From 1939 to 1945 he was at Columbia. After 1957 he taught botany at the University of Texas at Austin. He was the director of the
Botanical Society of America in 1955 and the director of
The American Journal of Botany from 1958 to 1965. His work focused on sub-aerial and soil
algae. ==Legacy==