He led the Metals and Minerals Branch of the Commodities Division of the Army–Navy Munitions Board during World War II and served as the 8th director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Julian Boyd was the son of a Sydney stockbroker who assisted Herbert Hoover with financing his mining ventures.

[3][4] Boyd received a Bachelor of Science in engineering and economics from the California Institute of Technology in 1927.

[2]: xix, 54  Boyd served under the Undersecretary of War Robert Patterson by leading the Metals and Minerals Branch of the Commodities Division of the Army–Navy Munitions Board.

He later served on the War Production Board and as an executive officer to General Lucius D. Clay.

After the war, he continued serving under General Clay as the executive director of the Industry Division of the Office of Military Government, United States in Germany.

[1][2]: vii, xix In 1947, Boyd was serving as special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior Julius Krug and then as the Defense Minerals Administrator.

[2]: xix  Starting in August 1947, Boyd served as the interim director of the U.S. Bureau of Mines.

Boyd's nomination was disputed by John L. Lewis, head of the United Mine Workers union.

[2]: xvi Boyd lived in Carmel, California in his late life and died on November 24, 1987.