Barry obtained his Master of Science degree in biology from Western Washington State College (now Western Washington University) in 1973. He then held a number of jobs, as varied as houseparent at a facility for troubled teenage girls, to Seasonal Park Naturalist at Olympic National Park. In 1976 he entered an AAS Program in Nursing at Peninsula College, Port Angeles, WA, graduating in 1978, and obtained his RN license.
As a Registered Nurse, Barry worked primarily in intensive care environments at Sacred Heart General Hospital in Eugene, OR prior to entering the AAS Non-Invasive Cardiovascular Technology program at Spokane Community College in 1990, graduating in 1992. The 17 years prior to joining Oregon Tech in September 2009, were spent employed at Bend Memorial Clinic, Bend, Oregon as a Cardiac Sonographer, then as Lead Cardiac Sonographer, in hospital, clinical, and mobile echo working environments. Barry maintains his Oregon RN license, and has RDCS and RCS registry in Adult Echocardiography.
Primary outside interests include photography, astronomy, and travel.