In a move that has surprised psychologists at Harvard and beyond, the University denied tenure to a renowned associate professor of psychology last month.

Several professors in the department said they are disturbed by the decision not to promote Hazel Associate Professor of the Social Sciences Nalini Ambady, who has taught at Harvard since 1994.

The sentiment is shared by dozens of past and present graduate students and undergraduates.

And few can understand how after receiving the approval of both the department and Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby, she will soon be leaving Cambridge.

The University, through its spokesperson Joe Wrinn, declined to comment on the deliberations, citing all tenure proceedings as confidential.

But the former chair of the department said University President Lawrence H. Summers’ decision was the result of opposition from a minority of professors within the department.

“I don’t think that Larry Summers was the one who made the wrong decision here. There were significant divisions in the department,” said former Chair of the Psychology Department Robert Rosenthal.

Many are worried about the void Ambady’s departure will leave.

“She represents a large commitment to diversity at the academy, she has an outstanding lab unparalleled in the department and, if the president really values as he has said, all the [diversity] she is bringing, this is a really a shame,” said Jennifer A. Richeson, a professor of psychology at Dartmouth and former Harvard graduate student under Ambady.

Indeed, few contest Ambady’s academic achievements—which have gained national recognition unparalleled by most of her colleagues.

In 1998, she was the first ever recipient in social psychology of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor the United States government grants young scientists. Only a few Harvard professors have received the recognition.

“There is nobody is the psychology department on her level. She was the first social scientist to receive that honor—she is the best at Harvard,” Rosenthal said.

Summers’ decision came after the review of an ad hoc committee—composed of three psychologists outside of the University and three Harvard professors outside her department—that began over the summer.

Ambady was notified last spring that the department had recommended her for tenure and told that Kirby passed off on it over the summer.

“I was given every sign that things were going well at the time of my promotion to associate professor,” Ambady said. “I have felt supported by the psychology department and feel positively toward it.”