An academic's embracing one handsome chap (6)
I believe the answer is:
adonis
'handsome chap' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'an academic's embracing one' is the wordplay.
'an' becomes 'a'.
'academic's' becomes 'don's' (type of academic - especially at Oxbridge).
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'dons' going around 'i' is 'donis'.
'a'+'donis'='ADONIS'
(Other definitions for adonis that I've seen before include "striking youth" , "Handsome Gk. youth" , "lovely man" , "A very handsome legendary Greek" , "A very good-looking ancient Greek" .)