The phrase "academic figure" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it to refer to someone who is well known for their academic credentials and scholarly work, such as a scientist or professor. For example, "Albert Einstein was an iconic academic figure known for his revolutionary work in physics."
They are academic figure drawings; nude models are drawn from the back and they display pronounced counterpoise.
For half a millennium, artists have relied upon Michelangelo's drawings to teach them the fundamental principles of academic figure drawing.
They range from traditional academic figure study to manipulated photography, with a little magic realism thrown in for good measure.
Herbert Wechsler was, I believe, the greatest academic figure in the history of Columbia Law School.
A senior academic figure of that august institution, during a tutorial, took me to one side and informed me that "music really stopped at Brahms".
Tall, thin – thanks to the many miles clocked up on his bike – and bespectacled, he cuts a more academic figure than the perma-tanned King.
The science-advisory committee led Gerstenberg into meetings with academic figures and oil-company executives on energy problems.
The New York Times, the City Bar Association and a group of 21 academic figures filed papers in January in support of the suit.
"This is outrageous and unacceptable," wrote academic figures from top universities in the US, UK and other European countries.
President Bush on Thursday named two academic figures as the final members of a commission to investigate the quality of the intelligence used to justify the Iraq war.
Yet with emotions running high, sorting it out does not look easy, and some key academic figures say Golby has an almost impossible job on his hands.
