Berthold Sheffield was born in 1910 in Heilbronn, Germany. He, his brother and his parents immigrated to the United States in 1923, where, influenced by the works of German physicist Heinrich Hertz and Italian physicist Guglielmo Marconi, Bert's interest in technology grew. At the age of 19 Sheffield won a 5 1/2 month scholarship at the Radio Institute of America, presented in person by David Sarnoff, Vice President of RCA. The award was granted because of Sheffield's proficiency as a telegrapher. In 1937 Sheffield received a diploma from the RCA Institute in Communications Engineering and went to work for RCA at Rocky Point, New York. From 1937 through 1941 he worked as an engineer for RCA Communications and supervised operations of high powered radio transmissions, including those used for international communications. He received a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1950. While assigned to the RCA International Division, he developed the first centralized traffic control system for a railroad using radio to operate the railroad's signals and switches in Venezuela.

Sheffield closed out his career at the RCA Astro-Electronics Division, working on engineering and development of earth environmental satellite systems. He retired in 1973 after 36 years at RCA. Sheffield subsequently consulted for several companies in computer electronics and telecommunications, including MCI, RCA, and Western Union. Because of his knowledge of computer engineering and telecommunications, Sheffield was elected a Fellow in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He passed away in 2005.