Inspiring figure left university, working in army (8)

I believe the answer is:

luminary

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'inspiring figure' is the definition.
'luminary' can be an answer for 'figure' (thesaurus). I'm not certain of the 'inspiring' bit.

'left university working in army' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'l' (common abbreviation).
'university' becomes 'U' (abbreviation as in UMass).
'working' indicates an anagram.
'in'+'army'='inarmy'
'inarmy' anagrammed gives 'minary'.
'l'+'u'+'minary'='LUMINARY'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for luminary that I've seen before include "star" , "Worthy" , "Influential person" , "Prominent member of a group" , "Person of influence" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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