With the aid of a scholarship, Nixdorf studied physics at the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe Universität in Frankfurt am Main in 1947.

In 1951 Nixdorf started working for the development department of Remington Rand Corp.

There he gained knowledge of simple adding machines and met Walter Sprick, whose assistant he became.

On September 5, 1952, Nixdorf hired his first employee, an electronics technician named Alfred Wierzioch.

In 1954 they released their first vacuum-tube computer, called ES, for the local electric utility company.

Nixdorf was invested in the education of his employees, which he promoted with a lot of personal effort and money.

He also enabled his employees to exercise physically, offering sports courses and building the Ahorn-Sportpark in Paderborn in 1984.

Nixdorf also played an instrumental role in the building of Paderborn airport, after threatening to move the company to Frankfurt am Main if no adequate infrastructure were provided.

The couple had three sons, one of whom, Martin Nixdorf, is the current chairman of the Heinz-Nixdorf-Stiftung and the Stiftung Westfalen.