During the 19th and 20th centuries, soil research was primarily focused on enhancing its primary function as a medium for plant growth for increasing agronomic production per unit area, time and input. During the 21st century, soil research must continue to focus on sustaining agronomic gains but also on other important functions including (i) moderation of climate, (ii) purification of water, (iii) disposal of industrial and urban wastes, (iv) enhancement of biodiversity and storehouse of germ plasm, (iv) archive of human and planetary history, (v) foundation for civil structures, and (vi) source of industrial raw material. These changing societal needs require a review of teaching curricula at grade school, undergraduate and graduate levels. The new curricula, to address the changing needs, must be developed in close interaction with other disciplines including climatology, geology, engineering, biology, ecology, economics and social sciences. Soil scientists must be trained to work with climatologists and biogeochemists to address the issues of climate change and the global C cycle; with engineers to identify strategies of geological sequestration of point-source CO2 emissions and soil application of urban and industrial wastes, with biogeochemists to develop techniques of mineralization of CO2 and study elemental cycling, with hydrologists to study linkages between C and H2O cycles and to enhance water use efficiency in agricultural ecosystems, with ecologists to restore degraded soils and ecosystems, and with social and political sciences to address the human dimension issues pertaining to sustainable management of soil resources. To stay relevant to the emerging needs of the human society, soil scientists must learn how to reach out to the other disciplines to effectively address emerging issues of global significance. It is important that the issue of global food security is addressed in the context of environment quality.