[1] [2] Söderberg was born in the fishing village of Ulvöhamn, in Örnsköldsvik Municipality, Västernorrland County, Sweden.

On a fellowship from The American-Scandinavian Foundation, he came to MIT, where he was awarded the degree of Bachelor of Science in June 1920.

In 1928, he accepted an offer from ASEA to return to Sweden and head the development of a new line of large turbogenerators.

Söderberg had a total of eighteen U.S. patents issued in the years from 1935 to 1950, all relating to constructional features of turbines.

On the occasion of Söderberg's eightieth birthday in 1975, MIT announced the establishment of the Carl Richard Soderberg Professorship of Power Engineering.