Henry M. Tyler was born November 18, 1843 in Amherst, Massachusetts. He received Bachelor of Arts (1865), Master (1868) and Doctor of Divinity (1902) degrees from Amherst College. In addition, an honorary degree was conferred upon him by Smith College in 1926. He taught for several years and was ordained a Congregational Minister in 1872, serving as the pastor in Fitchburg, Massachusetts from then until 1877.

In January of 1877 he began teaching Latin and Greek at Smith College, where his father, W. S. Tyler D.D. LL.D., had been one of the original trustees appointed by Sophia Smith's will and had served as the first president of the trustees. At the time the younger Tyler began teaching at Smith, the student body consisted of twenty-five women (enrollment would grow to 1600 students by the time he retired). Devoted to Smith College from the beginning, he held a strong conviction that women possessed brains and should be educated.

In addition to his teaching duties and chairing the Greek Department for twenty years, he unofficially filled the roll of a dean, finally becoming the first Dean of the Faculty in 1900 after approximately twenty-five years of performing the functions of the office. The work he conducted behind the scenes helped the college get up and running in the early years in spite of having no official executive officer besides President Seelye. After Professor Tyler's retirement in 1912, he contributed to L. Clark Seelye's book, published in 1923. He also served as president of the Northampton Historical Society for many years.

Henry M. Tyler was active until his sudden death on November 3, 1931, and was honored by a memorial service on the campus for which he had devoted so much of his life.