Henry Mervyn Howard was born in Lynden, Ontario and received his early education in the Hamilton-Burlington area. He attended the University of Toronto, graduating in 1940 with a B.A.Sc. in Mining Engineering. After graduation, Howard went to work for Eldorado Gold Mines Ltd. After a brief stint at the Port Hope refinery, he became Mill Superintendent at Port Radium on the shore of Great Bear Lake in 1942. In 1946, Howard left Eldorado to become a professor of Mineral Dressing in the Department of Mining and Metallurgy (later Mineral Engineering) at UBC. He taught at the university for twenty-five years until his retirement in 1970.