Index: jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/LdapAttributeMapper.java
===================================================================
--- jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/LdapAttributeMapper.java	(revision 97072)
+++ jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/LdapAttributeMapper.java	(working copy)
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 package edu.amc.sakai.user;
 
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
 
 import org.sakaiproject.user.api.UserEdit;
 
@@ -152,5 +153,15 @@
 	 * @return	the formatted search filter
 	 */
 	public String getFindUserByCrossAttributeSearchFilter(String criteria);
+	
+	/**
+	 * Builds a filter to a uid search against many users at once 
+	 * For reference, the LDAP search filter is of the form:
+	 * "(|(uid=sample.user)(uid=john.doe)(uid=jane.smith))"
+	 * 
+	 * @param	the search string
+	 * @return	the formatted search filter
+	 */
+	public String getManyUsersInOneSearch(Set<String> criteria);
 
 }
Index: jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/SimpleLdapAttributeMapper.java
===================================================================
--- jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/SimpleLdapAttributeMapper.java	(revision 97072)
+++ jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/SimpleLdapAttributeMapper.java	(working copy)
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.Set;
@@ -569,4 +570,30 @@
 		return sb.toString();
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @inheritDoc
+	 */
+	public String getManyUsersInOneSearch(Set<String> criteria) {
+		String eidAttr = attributeMappings.get(AttributeMappingConstants.LOGIN_ATTR_MAPPING_KEY);
+		
+		StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
+		sb.append("(|");
+
+		for ( Iterator<String> eidIterator = criteria.iterator(); eidIterator.hasNext(); ) {
+			sb.append("(");
+			sb.append(eidAttr);
+			sb.append("=");
+			sb.append(eidIterator.next());
+			sb.append(")");
+		}
+		
+		sb.append(")");
+		
+		if (M_log.isDebugEnabled()) {
+			M_log.debug("getManyUsersInOneSearch() completed filter: " + sb.toString());
+		}
+		
+		return sb.toString();
+	}
+
 }
Index: jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/JLDAPDirectoryProvider.java
===================================================================
--- jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/JLDAPDirectoryProvider.java	(revision 97072)
+++ jldap/src/java/edu/amc/sakai/user/JLDAPDirectoryProvider.java	(working copy)
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -612,10 +613,8 @@
 	 * returns if a retry exits exceptionally
 	 * <p>
 	 */
-	public void getUsers(Collection users)
+	public void getUsers(Collection<UserEdit> users)
 	{
-
-		//TODO: avoid the ripple loading here. should just need one query
 		if ( M_log.isDebugEnabled() ) {
 			M_log.debug("getUsers(): [Collection size = " + users.size() + "]");
 		}
@@ -623,40 +622,27 @@
 		LDAPConnection conn = null;
 		boolean abortiveSearch = false;
 		UserEdit userEdit = null;
+		
+		HashMap<String, UserEdit> usersToSearchInLDAP = new HashMap<String, UserEdit>();
 		try {
-
-			conn = ldapConnectionManager.getConnection();
-
-			for ( Iterator userEdits = users.iterator(); userEdits.hasNext(); ) {
-
-				try {
-
-					userEdit = (UserEdit) userEdits.next();
-					boolean foundUser = getUserByEid(userEdit, userEdit.getEid(), conn);
-					if ( !(foundUser) ) {
-						userEdits.remove();
-					}
-
-				} catch ( LDAPException e ) {
-
-					M_log.warn("getUsers(): search failed for user, retrying [eid = " + userEdit.getEid() + "]",
-							e);
-
-					// lets retry with a new connection, giving up
-					// for good if the retry fails
-					ldapConnectionManager.returnConnection(conn);
-
-					conn = ldapConnectionManager.getConnection();
-
-					// exactly the same calls as above
-					boolean foundUser = getUserByEid(userEdit, userEdit.getEid(), conn);
-					if ( !(foundUser) ) {
-						userEdits.remove();
-					}
-
+			
+			for ( Iterator<UserEdit> userEdits = users.iterator(); userEdits.hasNext(); ) {
+				userEdit = (UserEdit) userEdits.next();
+				LdapUserData cachedUserData = getCachedUserEntry(userEdit.getEid());
+				if ( cachedUserData == null ) {
+					usersToSearchInLDAP.put(userEdit.getEid(), userEdit);
 				}
-
 			}
+			
+			conn = ldapConnectionManager.getConnection();
+			String filter = ldapAttributeMapper.getManyUsersInOneSearch(usersToSearchInLDAP.keySet());
+			List<LdapUserData> ldapUsers = searchDirectory(filter, null, null, null, null, 0);
+			
+			for (LdapUserData ldapUserData : ldapUsers) {
+				UserEdit ue = usersToSearchInLDAP.get(ldapUserData.getEid());
+				mapUserDataOntoUserEdit(ldapUserData, ue);
+			}
+
 		} catch (LDAPException e)	{
 			abortiveSearch = true;
 			throw new RuntimeException("getUsers(): LDAPException during search [eid = " +