Bachelor’s Degree: Carroll University
Master’s Degrees: Princeton Theological Seminary, University of Chicago
Doctorate: UW-Madison
After graduating from Carroll University in 1980, Barbara Horner-Ibler followed the call to ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1983.
She then attended the University of Chicago, earning a master’s in social work in 1985.
Horner-Ibler was active in social justice ministry for 10 years but eventually returned to medicine. She earned a medical doctorate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1998 and was a resident physician at Aurora-Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee.
From her experience working with low-income families and patients from underinsured or uninsured backgrounds, Horner-Ibler founded the Bread of Healing Clinic. This free clinic, located at Cross Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, provides services for individuals who do not have health insurance. Since the original clinic opened in 1999, three other sites have been established, treating about 400 patients per month and providing health and wellness education programs.
Horner-Ibler is also a physician for Towne Centre Medical, a small, private internal medicine practice.