Etienne Bernardeau Renaud was born on June 14, 1880 in Billancourt-Bologne near Paris, France, the son of Pierre Benjamin Renaud and Adlephine E. Bernardeau (Renaud). Dr. Renaud graduated from the College of St. Nicholas in 1901. He earned his A.D. degree from the University of Paris in 1905. He studied at the Catholic University in Washington D.C., from 1907 to 1908 and taught at St. Charles College, Maryland, from 1908 to 1909. His interest in archaeology and history brought him to Colorado where he could study the Native Americans first hand. He became a naturalized citizen in 1913 and married a dress designer named Elizabeth Eudora de Cora in June of 1914.

Prior to joining the University of Denver faculty, E.B. Renaud taught French to private classes and was an instructor in French and Spanish at the University of Colorado for two years. While there he received his M.A. degree. In 1916, University of Denver Chancellor Henry A. Buchtel appointed Renaud professor of Romance Languages, and in 1920 he received his degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Denver. After a year of anthropological studies in France, England, and Belgium, he switched from Romance languages to the field of anthropology, in which he became a recognized authority both in this country and abroad. In 1924 he was appointed full professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Denver.

When the United States entered into World War I in 1917, Renaud acted as an instructor in military French at Fort Logan, Colorado, and took an examination for military interpreter at the War College in Washington. He was a Lieutenant of Infantry from 1918 to 1919 and led drills on the University of Denver campus. He had "every intention of staying in," but his wife became ill and he had to leave the army. During World War II Renaud was Director of Instruction in Language Studies in the Army Special Training Program at the University of Denver unit and was a Professor of Special Geography for Aviation.

In 1923-24, 1926, and 1937 Dr. Renaud undertook extensive archaeological field trips in Europe including France, Spain, England, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In the summer of 1929, Renaud directed a field expedition for the Colorado Museum of Natural History (now the Denver Museum of Nature and Science). Over the next decade he conducted numerous archaeological surveys of the western High Plains area--Eastern Colorado 1930-33, Eastern Wyoming 1931, Western Nebraska 1933, Northeast New Mexico 1934-45, Southern Wyoming 1935-39, and Southern Colorado 1940-43. He influenced many students and colleagues throughout his career. He published approximately 125 scientific articles in American and European journals, covering such topics as archaeology, craniometry, linguistics, and Indian religion. His archaeology reports were some of the first to be based on a systematic excavation in the western High Plains, and were supported not only by D.U., but also by the Smithsonian Institute.

Dr. Renaud was a member of many clubs, organizations, and societies. He served as the director of the Club Sevigne for 58 years. From 1932-1937, Renaud was a Consular Agent for France.  The French Government named him Officer d' Academie in 1933, and Chevalier Legion d' Honneur in 1935. Renaud served as president of the Colorado-Wyoming Academy of Science and was one of the founders of the University Faculty Research Group in 1924. He founded and was national president of the fraternity Alpha Zeta Pi, and a member of Lambda Chi Alpha, Pi Gamma Mu and Delta Epsilon.

In 1948, as Professor Emeritus, Dr. Renaud retired from teaching at the University of Denver. After his retirement, he continued to travel, write papers, and give lectures. Etienne Bernardeau Renaud lived a long, full life. In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News in 1967, when asked about death he said, "I am philosophical. We all have to quit sometime." On February 6, 1973, E.B. Renaud died of a stroke at the age of 92.