Born in Vallejo, California[2] and a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Tyson received a bachelor's degree in health service management and an MBA degree in health service administration from Golden Gate University.

[8] Tyson was included on the 2017 Time 100 Most Influential People list as a leading authority on public health in America.

He served on the board of the American Heart Association,[1] which created in his honor the "Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund.

Tyson's widow, Denise Bradley-Tyson, leads the program and significant donors include Kaiser Permanente, Jeff Bezos and Lynne and Marc Benioff.

[12] At Bernard Tyson's memorial service in San Francisco on November 18 at the Chase Center, it was announced that Kaiser's new medical school in Pasadena will be named the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine.