John Barber, J.D. is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the Villanova University Law School. He was admitted to practice law before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the Federal District Court of Western Pennsylvania. He practiced law for 20 years and founded the firm Barber, Ridge, Foulk and McLaughlin. He is a member of the Erie County and Pennsylvania Bar Associations.

John assumed the position of Chief Operating Officer of the Barber National Institute in 1997 and became President and CEO in 2000. 

John has served on many corporate and civic boards and has accepted, on behalf of the Barber National Institute individuals and team, a number of honors and awards, including being appointed as a Knight of the Equistrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem by Pope John Paul II.