Senior academic had to give money (6)
I believe the answer is:
donate
'give money' is the definition.
'donate' can be an answer for 'give' (donating is a kind of giving). I'm unsure of the 'money' bit.
'senior academic had' is the wordplay.
'senior academic' becomes 'don' (type of academic - especially at Oxbridge. I am not sure about the 'senior' bit.).
'had' becomes 'ate' (e.g. I had an ice cream).
'don'+'ate'='DONATE'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for donate that I've seen before include "Give money to charity" , "Give freely, maybe blood" , "Give as gift, say blood" , "Make a contribution" , "Give - present" .)