Fellow from east side of capital city (3)
I believe the answer is:
don
'fellow' is the definition.
(both can mean an academic)
'east side of capital city' is the wordplay.
'east side of' suggests halving the letters (the right or 'east' half of the word).
'capital city' becomes 'london' (I've seen this before).
'london' halved is 'DON'.
'from' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for don that I've seen before include "Put on; lecturer" , "Mafia boss" , "Spanish male title" , "Spanish nobleman" , "- - Giovanni, 26" .)