Kistler studied sciences at the University of Geneva and earned a master's degree in physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

While subsequently head of the Instrumentation Lab at the Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works, Winterthur, he pioneered a new measurement technology using Piezo-electric quartz crystals as the transduction element in accelerometers, load cells, and pressure gauges.

Under Kistler's supervision, his company made several major innovations, some of which would be put to use in the Apollo crewed spaceflights, and became a world leader in the development of quartz sensors.

The Foundation's original stated goal was to "increase knowledge about the factors that may have a major impact on the long-term future of humanity."

In 2008, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Kistler was the sole donor to the Pioneer Fund, a designated hate group originally founded in 1937 to promote eugenics.