Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Kenya is the only university in Nyeri area in Central Kenya. The Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Nyeri town began as a community project in 1972 named the Kimathi Institute of Technology. Dedan Kimathi University of Technology's name comes from “Dedan Kimathi”, a freedom fighter in Kenya who lived in Central Kenya and largely accredited for the self governance freedom attained by Kenya from the British colonial government in 1963.

Kimathi Institute of Technology in Kenya was one of the institutions in Nyeri that trained in Certified Public Accounts(CPA). Kimathi Institute of Technology in Kenya was elevated to a university college of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya in 2007 and was then renamed as Kimathi University College. Kimathi University College in Kenya served as a constituent college of JKUAT for five years until it was granted a university charter. The Kimathi University College became a fully fledged university in December 2012 in a ceremony presided by the then president Mwai Kibaki. The Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Kenya was the first university to be granted a charter under the new universities act of 2012 and as such became the eighth public university established in Kenya.

Professor S. O. Keya was appointed as the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology first chancellor. In line with the vision of the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology to become a premier technology university in Kenya, there is an almost complete resource centre in Dedan Kimathi University of Technology that will serve multiple purposes.

The Dedan Kimathi University of Technology’s land spans close to 4km2- that totals to close to 1000 acres. This area includes a coffee plantation, a natural forest as well as area for expansion of Dedan Kimathi University of Technology. The Dedan Kimathi University of Technology is located approximately 6 kilometers from Nyeri town in Kenya along the Nyeri- Mweiga highway.

There are only 3 faculties in the upcoming Dedan Kimathi University of Technology. These faculties in Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Kenya are the school of engineering that offers five degree courses in Kenya, the school of computing and information technology in Dedan Kimathi University of Technology that offers two degree courses in Kenya and the school of business in Dedan Kimathi University of Technology that offers two degree courses in Kenya. The school of computing and information technology in Dedan Kimathi University of Technology also offers a diploma in information technology in Kenya.