diff --git a/.rbenv-version b/.rbenv-version
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0a95b9f5c7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.rbenv-version
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+1.9.2-p290
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 330b36a3cd..a29a618478 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -1,14 +1,10 @@
 source "http://rubygems.org"
-# Add dependencies required to use your gem here.
-# Example:
-#   gem "activesupport", ">= 2.3.5"
 
-# Add dependencies to develop your gem here.
-# Include everything needed to run rake, tests, features, etc.
+gem 'public_suffix'
+
 group :development do
   gem "shoulda", ">= 0"
   gem "rdoc", "~> 3.12"
   gem "bundler", "~> 1.0.0"
   gem "jeweler", "~> 1.8.3"
-  gem "rcov", ">= 0"
 end
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ab33079164
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+GEM
+  remote: http://rubygems.org/
+  specs:
+    git (1.2.5)
+    jeweler (1.8.3)
+      bundler (~> 1.0)
+      git (>= 1.2.5)
+      rake
+      rdoc
+    json (1.6.5)
+    public_suffix (1.0.0)
+    rake (0.9.2.2)
+    rdoc (3.12)
+      json (~> 1.4)
+    shoulda (2.11.3)
+
+PLATFORMS
+  ruby
+
+DEPENDENCIES
+  bundler (~> 1.0.0)
+  jeweler (~> 1.8.3)
+  public_suffix
+  rdoc (~> 3.12)
+  shoulda
diff --git a/README.rdoc b/README.rdoc
index 24c79384e1..db3dbc3164 100644
--- a/README.rdoc
+++ b/README.rdoc
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 = email
 
-Description goes here.
+Helpers for email addresses.
+
+* is this email address from an academic institution?
 
 == Contributing to email
- 
+
 * Check out the latest master to make sure the feature hasn't been implemented or the bug hasn't been fixed yet.
 * Check out the issue tracker to make sure someone already hasn't requested it and/or contributed it.
 * Fork the project.
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
index 871c8b287e..749b279659 100644
--- a/Rakefile
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -17,8 +17,8 @@ Jeweler::Tasks.new do |gem|
   gem.name = "email"
   gem.homepage = "http://github.com/leereilly/email"
   gem.license = "MIT"
-  gem.summary = %Q{TODO: one-line summary of your gem}
-  gem.description = %Q{TODO: longer description of your gem}
+  gem.summary = %Q{email helpers}
+  gem.description = %Q{email helpers}
   gem.email = "lee@leereilly.net"
   gem.authors = ["Lee Reilly"]
   # dependencies defined in Gemfile
@@ -32,14 +32,6 @@ Rake::TestTask.new(:test) do |test|
   test.verbose = true
 end
 
-require 'rcov/rcovtask'
-Rcov::RcovTask.new do |test|
-  test.libs << 'test'
-  test.pattern = 'test/**/test_*.rb'
-  test.verbose = true
-  test.rcov_opts << '--exclude "gems/*"'
-end
-
 task :default => :test
 
 require 'rdoc/task'
diff --git a/lib/email.rb b/lib/email.rb
index e69de29bb2..4818304214 100644
--- a/lib/email.rb
+++ b/lib/email.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+require 'public_suffix'
+
+module Email
+  VERSION = "0.0.1"
+
+  ACADEMIC_TLDS = %w(edu ac.uk)
+  ACADEMIC_DOMAINS = %w(ugr.es uottawa.ca)
+
+  class << self
+    def academic?(email)
+      domain = PublicSuffix.parse(email.split("@")[1])
+
+      if ACADEMIC_TLDS.include?(domain.tld)
+        true
+      elsif ACADEMIC_DOMAINS.include? (domain.domain)
+        true
+      else
+        false
+      end
+    end
+end
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/test_email.rb b/test/test_email.rb
index 01f07516b4..6b08bfb25f 100644
--- a/test/test_email.rb
+++ b/test/test_email.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,16 @@
 require 'helper'
 
 class TestEmail < Test::Unit::TestCase
-  should "probably rename this file and start testing for real" do
-    flunk "hey buddy, you should probably rename this file and start testing for real"
+  should "know what a valid educational institution email address is" do
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lreilly@stanford.edu'),          true
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lreilly@slac.stanford.edu'),     true
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lreilly@strath.ac.uk'),          true
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lreilly@soft-eng.strath.ac.uk'), true
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lee@ugr.es'),                    true
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lee@uottawa.ca'),                true
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lee@leerilly.net'),              false
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lee@gmail.com'),                 false
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lee@stanford.edu.com'),          false
+    assert_equal Email::academic?('lee@strath.ac.uk.com'),          false
   end
 end