Malcom was born on January 19, 1799 in Philadelphia, PA to John J. and Deborah Malcom. In 1801, his father died at the age of 23 and his grandfather, John Howard, assumed care of Howard along with his mother.ⁱ  In 1813, Malcom entered Dickinson College as a member of the class of 1816, but he went on to become a non-graduate of the college.ⁱⁱ   However, in 1842 he did receive an Honorary Master of Arts Degree from Dickinson..^xxiii

Malcom’s involvement in the Baptist church, a significant part of his adult life, began at an early age. He was only seventeen when he made his profession of preaching public at Sansom St. Baptist Church on January 1, 1816..ⁱⁱⁱ  Malcom then went on to enter the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1818, where he studied for 2 years.^iv  He received his licensed to preach on June 26, 1818.^v  In April of 1820, Malcom was ordained as a Baptist minister and would go on to pastor various Baptist churches in Hudson, Boston, and Philadelphia throughout his life..^vi  He first became a pastor of a Baptist church in Hudson, NY in 1820 and remained there until 1826.^vii  Malcom was married in 1820^viii and his first son, Thomas Shields, was born on March 23, 1821. Thomas grew up to become a clergyman like his father.^ix   After the death of hist first wife, Malcom married Ruth Dyer in 1838 and eventually had five children with her.^xvii

Malcom became the Deputy of the Baptist Missionary Society^xiii and in 1835, was asked by the Triennial Convention in Boston to act as a Baptist missionary.^xiv  Thus began his career as a missionary to foreign countries.  He traveled to missions in Hindostan, Burmah, Siam, China, and Africa.^xv  Malcom wrote some of his most noteworthy literature about his missionary travels. In 1839, he authored Travels in South-Eastern Asia, embracing Hindustan, Malaya, Siam, and China", and in 1840, Travels in the Burman Empire.    In 1843, he received a D.D. from Union College and University of Vermont because of "Malcolm’s Travels", which was about his missions for the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Union from 1835 – 1837.^xxiv  Malcom also became involved in several other organizations including the American Baptist Historical Society, the American Tract Society, the Pennsylvania Baptist Education Society, the Pennsylvania Colonization, and the American Peace Society.  He also played an important role in the Beekman Baptist Church, as the Chaiman of the Council that drew up the covenant and the statement of faith for the Church itself.^xvi  It is evident that Howard Malcom was an integral part of Baptist church organizations. 

In 1840, Malcom took a break from his missionary work when he was appointed as the President of Georgetown College in Kentucky.^xviii Under this new President Georgetown established a new curriculum, as classics and electives (arithmetic, geography, electricity, magnetism, chemistry, geometry) were added. Malcom also helped to complete the first permanent building on campus, Giddings Hall, and raised funds to eliminate the deficit in the college’s budget.  He encouraged the establishment of the Georgetown Female Academy and the organization of the college's first literary socities.^xix  Malcom also served as chair of metaphysics and moral philosophy at Georgetown.^xx

While President, Malcom served as pastor of the Georgetown First Baptist Church.^xxi  This enabled him to start the First African Baptist Church in the Georgetown community.  In 1842 he encouraged Georgetown’s First Baptist Church to relocate at a closer proximity to the college and to give the old church facilities to the black members of the church. The white congregation moved to a new location and the old structures were leased to the black members of the First Baptist Church. They then formed the First African Baptist Church in 1842.^xxii

In 1849 Malcom resigned his position as President of Georgetown^xxv due to the uprising he caused at the College.  His anti-slavery views caused problems among the Georgetown community.  Malcom voted for the election of antislavery delegates to Kentucky’s third constitutional convention. Georgetown was a pro-slavery community and were appalled by Malcom’s stance of the subject. He received death threats and chose to resign his presidential position^xxvi and returned to pastoral roles.

Malcom returned to Philadelphia and became pastor of the Fifth Street Baptist Church.^xxvii  He left his pastor position in 1851 and became the President of Lewisburg University^xxviii (renamed in 1886 and now called Bucknell University.)  Malcom's association with the country of Burma while President helped to establish and strengthen the connection between Lewisburg and Burma, a bond which still exists today.^xxix  He once again served as chair of metaphysics and moral philosophy as he did at Georgetown.^xxx  Once again, his presidency resulted in positive changes for the college he presided over.  While he was president of L:ewisburg Malcom initiated and completed the first three buildings for the college, laid out the campus, and established its library.^xxxi   In 1857, Malcom received a LL.D. from Lewisburg University.^xxxii  That same year he resigned as President of the college..^xxxiii

During the time of his presidencies, Malcom continued his literary career.  In 1846 he published "The Theological Index: References to the Principal Works in Every Department of Religious Literature".  Malcom wrote "A Call to Christians: showing the necessity of a devout and Holy life" with William Law.  It was published in 1851 by the American Baptist Publication Society.  His "A dictionary of the most important names, objects, and terms found in the Holy Scriptures" was published in 1853 and "The Travels of True Godliness with Benjamin Keach" , was published by the American Baptist Publication Society in 1854.

On May 26, 1862 in Boston, MA, Malcom made an address before the American Peace Society entitled “Signs of the Times Favorable to Peace”.  In 1863 he wrote "The Analogy of Religion to the Constitution and Course of Nature" with Joseph Butler. His "An Index to Religious Literature" was published in 1869 and in 1870 he wrote "An Index to the Principal Works in Every Department of Religious Literature" and "The Extent and Efficacy of the Atonement".  He edited Thomas a Kempis’s "Imitation of Christ" authored by John Payne and Thomas Chalmers in 1872.  The quality work he produced in these works made him a prolific author among the Baptist community.
 Malcom once again took the office of president when he became President of Hahnemann Medical College in 1874.^xxxiv  He remained there until his death.  Howard Malcom died March 25th 1879 in the place of his birth, Philadelphia, PA.^xxxv  He lived an active life, full of charitable activities that contributed much to the Baptist Church and community.  Although Howard Malcom never fully graduated from Dickinson, he is still regarded as an important and honorary citizen by the college.