diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3849329..9671a90 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -126,6 +126,22 @@ c.LDAPAuthenticator.allowed_groups = [
 ]
 ```
 
+#### `LDAPAuthenticator.admin_groups` ####
+
+LDAP group whose members are granted admin access. This must be
+set to either empty `[]` (the default) or to a list of full DNs
+that have a `member` attribute that includes the current user
+attempting to log in in order to grant this user admin rights.
+
+As an example, all users in the group `jupyterhub_admins` get
+admin access,
+
+```python
+c.LDAPAuthenticator.admin_groups = [
+    "cn=jupyterhub_admins,ou=groups,dc=wikimedia,dc=org",
+]
+```
+
 #### `LDAPAuthenticator.valid_username_regex` ####
 
 All usernames will be checked against this before being sent
diff --git a/ldapauthenticator/ldapauthenticator.py b/ldapauthenticator/ldapauthenticator.py
index 4e3a809..3693062 100644
--- a/ldapauthenticator/ldapauthenticator.py
+++ b/ldapauthenticator/ldapauthenticator.py
@@ -86,6 +86,23 @@ def _server_port_default(self):
         """,
     )
 
+    admin_groups = List(
+        config=True,
+        allow_none=True,
+        default_value=None,
+        help="""
+        List of LDAP group DNs that users could be mebers of to be granted admin access.
+
+        If a user is in any one of the listed groups, then that user is granted admin
+        access. Membership is tested by fetsching info about each group and looking for
+        the User's DN to be a value of one of `member` or `uniqueMember`, *or* if the
+        username being used is value of the `uid`.
+
+        Setting this to an empty list or None does not have any additional effect unlike
+        allowed_groups.
+        """,
+    )
+
     # FIXME: Use something other than this? THIS IS LAME, akin to websites restricting things you
     # can use in usernames / passwords to protect from SQL injection!
     valid_username_regex = Unicode(
@@ -457,11 +474,38 @@ def authenticate(self, handler, data):
         if not self.use_lookup_dn_username:
             username = data["username"]
 
+        is_admin = False
+        if self.admin_groups:
+            self.log.debug(
+                "Searching for admin users with username: %s and dn: %s",
+                username,
+                userdn,
+            )
+            found = False
+            for group in self.admin_groups:
+                group_filter = (
+                    "(|"
+                    "(member={userdn})"
+                    "(uniqueMember={userdn})"
+                    "(memberUid={uid})"
+                    ")"
+                )
+                group_filter = group_filter.format(userdn=userdn, uid=username)
+                group_attributes = ["member", "uniqueMember", "memberUid"]
+                if conn.search(
+                    group,
+                    search_scope=ldap3.BASE,
+                    search_filter=group_filter,
+                    attributes=group_attributes,
+                ):
+                    is_admin = True
+                    break
+
         user_info = self.get_user_attributes(conn, userdn)
         if user_info:
             self.log.debug("username:%s attributes:%s", username, user_info)
-            return {"name": username, "auth_state": user_info}
-        return username
+            return {"name": username, "auth_state": user_info, "admin": is_admin}
+        return {"name": username, "admin": is_admin}
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/ldapauthenticator/tests/conftest.py b/ldapauthenticator/tests/conftest.py
index 545744f..24f32a7 100644
--- a/ldapauthenticator/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/ldapauthenticator/tests/conftest.py
@@ -34,4 +34,8 @@ def authenticator():
         "cn=ship_crew,ou=people,dc=planetexpress,dc=com",
     ]
 
+    authenticator.admin_groups = [
+        "cn=admin_staff,ou=people,dc=planetexpress,dc=com",
+    ]
+
     return authenticator
diff --git a/ldapauthenticator/tests/test_ldapauthenticator.py b/ldapauthenticator/tests/test_ldapauthenticator.py
index 6471213..4a6326f 100644
--- a/ldapauthenticator/tests/test_ldapauthenticator.py
+++ b/ldapauthenticator/tests/test_ldapauthenticator.py
@@ -8,6 +8,18 @@ async def test_ldap_auth_allowed(authenticator):
     )
     assert authorized["name"] == "fry"
 
+    # allowed user with proper credentials not in admin_groups
+    authorized = await authenticator.get_authenticated_user(
+        None, {"username": "fry", "password": "fry"}
+    )
+    assert not authorized.get("admin", True)
+
+    # allowed user with proper credentials in admin_groups
+    authorized = await authenticator.get_authenticated_user(
+        None, {"username": "hermes", "password": "hermes"}
+    )
+    assert authorized.get("admin", False)
+
 
 async def test_ldap_auth_disallowed(authenticator):
     # invalid username