Despite "strong" recommendations from the government department, the University denied tenure to two in-house government professors last month, according to department members.

Last spring, the department recommended for tenure two Associate Professors of Government--Jean C. Oi and Jennifer A. Widner--after seven years of work at the University.

But President Neil L. Rudenstine, who has the final decision on all tenure appointments, denied both requests.

Rudenstine was unable to be reached for comment last night. Director of the Harvard News Office Joe Wrinn said the administration had no comment.

Both professors expressed regret at the President's decisions.

"I am obviously sad to leave. I had helped to build an exceptionally strong Africa research community while I was here, and I will miss that," said Widner, who will leave for a tenured position at the University of Michigan in December.

"On the one hand, I was very pleased that the department did strongly recommend that I be granted tenure. I'm obviously very disappointed that the President reversed that recommendation," Oi said.

Oi, who is married to Professor of Sociology Andrew G. Walder, said her husband would likely leave Harvard as well, and said they were now looking at offers from other "major research universities."

While Government Department Chair Susan J. Pharr said she was disappointed with the President's deci- sion, she defended the integrity of the tenure process.

"As someone who would like to see more women scholars in the senior ranks, and who thinks highly of both candidates, I personally am disappointed at this outcome," said Pharr, who is also Reischauer Professor of Japanese Politics.

"But I think anyone who has been close to the process is impressed at how much time and care goes into it," she said, "and the fact is that the standard for tenure at Harvard is incredibly high."

Likewise, Stanfield Professor of International Peace Robert O. Keohane said he approved of both the professors' records and the fairness of the tenure process.

"I have tremendous respect for both Professor Oi and Professor Widner. They're both excellent scholars and good teachers, but I have been assured and I believe that it was a very fair and thorough process, as usual at Harvard," he said.

After receiving a department's recommendation, the President makes tenure decisions with the advice of an ad hoc committee of professors and administrators. The ad hoc committee's membership and its proceedings are secret.

Several professors said it was unusual but not unheard of for the President to deny tenure despite the department's recommendation. The department does not often recommend junior faculty members for tenure.

While several other government professors declined to comment, some colleagues and students expressed disappointment with the tenure decisions.

Williams Professor of History and Political Science Roderick MacFarquhar, who chaired the subcommittee that recommended Oi's tenure to the government department, said he was "disappointed, very disappointed" with the decision.

"[Oi] is one of the leading figures in political science covering China and her works are read by a large number of people outside the China field," he said.

Several graduate students said Widner helped create a strong interest in African studies in the government department.

"My feeling is that it is a real loss to the University because at least in the graduate department the study of Africa was really on a roll, and I think Jennifer had a lot to do with that," said Dan N. Posner, a fifth-year graduate student.

The government departments' recommendation of Widner came under some fire last May when Thomson Professor of Government Martin Kilson charged that Widner had "racially humiliated" him in a public dispute four years earlier.

At the time, Kilson, who is Black, said Widner had argued with an intensity she would not have shown to a white senior faculty member. Widner has denied that the incident had any racial basis.

Pharr said last night that Kilson's charges played "no role" in the President's tenure decision.

Reached last night, Kilson said he did not have "any reaction" to Rudenstine's decision.

"That's the University's decision, not mine," he said. "No academic makes that decision--all you have the right to do is make an input into it.