The History Department has offered a tenured position to a specialist in 20th century American history after a search of more than six years, department chair William C. Kirby said yesterday.

Laura Kalman, a professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara specializing in modern American history and U.S. legal history, has not yet decided whether to accept the offer, which has been approved by President Neil L. Rudenstine, Kirby said.

The offer to Kalman continues an overhaul of the department's undergraduate program that began last year with the appointment of three tenured faculty members and a new tutorial and track system.

And Kirby said the department is now focusing on revamping its American history program and is hoping to make four other appointments in American history this spring.

Kalman, who was at Harvard last year as a fellow in the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, is well-respected as a legal historian for her biography of Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas.

"I think her Fortas biography may be the single best judicial biography of an American Supreme Court jus- tice," said Warren Professor of American Legal History Morton J. Horwitz.

Kalman's biography won the American Historical Association's 1992 Littleton-Griswold prize for the best book on the history of American law and society.

"I used her biography as a required book in my Warren Court class," Horwitz said, "and I know all of her scholarship very well. I think it is an outstanding appointment, and Harvard is lucky if they can get her."

"I think she would be a major scholarly presence in the Harvard history department," Horwitz said.

Kalman, reached at her home last night, confirmed that she was considering the offer, but declined to comment further.

"I think its too early for me to comment right at this time," she said.

Some professors on the search committee lauded Kalman's qualifications.

"The department has been looking to make an appointment in 20th century U.S. history and after many years of research, we concluded she would be the best candidate," said Akira Iriye, Warren professor of American history.

"I think [the search] has been [going on for] many years," Iriye said. "I came here in 1989, but the search had already been going on before that."

Trumbull Professor of American History Donald H. Fleming, also on the search committee, described Kalman as an "effective teacher and speaker," saying that she has an "attractive personality" and is "favorable with her students."

"I think she would do a good job teaching anywhere," Fleming said.