Notable alumni include Dr. Paul Chepkwony, the first governor of Kericho County in Kenya and a former lecturer, Emma Miloyo, a prominent Kenyan architect and the first female president of the Architectural Association of Kenya, as well as Aden Duale, the former Leader of Majority in the 11th Kenyan Parliament among others.

[2] In early 1978, the Kenyan president, Jomo Kenyatta, donated 200 hectares of farmland for the establishment of the college.

The Commission for University Education said it would investigate allegations that rules on supervisor–student ratios and peer review had been breached.

[17] In February 2010, JKUAT was selected as the host for the East and Central Africa regional institute of the Pan African University.

The post-graduate Institute on Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation would be hosted at the Main Campus in Juja, with the first students admitted in September 2011.

The agreement was signed on 25 April 2012 between Kenya's Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, represented by Bernard Malenga and JKUAT's vice-chancellor Mabel Imbuga, and an eight-person Chinese delegation led by Yin Youhua.