Can the higher education faculty sustain itself as a profession? And why does this question matter as much as more frequently asked questions regarding access, costs, quality, governance, and competitiveness? This special issue of "Higher Learning Research Communications" seeks to address these questions by posing as a unifying concept the academic profession's duty to the common good. Higher education is essential for creating the advanced knowledge and human capital necessary to address the world's most challenging issues, ranging from the environment to health to security to societal stability with such immediate crises as drought and climate change, terrorism, migration, famine, and health epidemics. This special issue of "Higher Learning Research Communications" has responded to UNESCO's (2015) call for educational institutions and educators to rethink education in the contemporary era and focuses on how academic endeavors can, do, and should act in service to a global common good.