Distinguished fellow initially obtained two degrees? Not seen around university (3,3,3)
I believe the answer is:
odd man out
'distinguished fellow' is the definition.
(someone distinguished from the rest of a group)
'initially obtained two degrees? not seen around university' is the wordplay.
'two degrees?' means two substitutions for 'degree'.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'degree' becomes 'dma' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'seen around' indicates putting letters inside.
'university' becomes 'u' (abbreviation for university).
The initial letters of 'obtained degree' is 'od'.
'not' going around 'u' is 'nout'.
'od'+'dma'+'nout'='ODD MAN OUT'
(Other definitions for odd man out that I've seen before include "One excluded" , "that doesn't match the rest?" , "Nonconformist" , "one not actually in match" , "One differs from others in a group" .)