Austen Riggs Center Announces 2026 Evelyn Stefansson Nef Scholarship Recipients

Stockbridge, MA—June 12, 2026—The Austen Riggs Center has announced the 2026 recipients of the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Scholarship, an annual award given to graduating seniors from three Berkshire County high schools: Monument Mountain Regional High School, Lenox Memorial High School, and Lee High School.

The 2026 Evelyn Stefansson Nef Scholarship recipients are:

Each recipient will receive a $1,000 scholarship in recognition of academic achievement, interest in the social sciences or healthcare fields, and community involvement.

Established in 2000, the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Scholarship is awarded annually to one graduating senior from each of three Berkshire County schools: Lenox Memorial High School, Monument Mountain Regional High School, and Lee High School. Scholarship recipients receive the funds after completing their first semester of college.

The scholarship is named in honor of Evelyn Stefansson Nef, a longtime supporter of the Austen Riggs Center whose life and work reflected wide-ranging commitments to scholarship, exploration, psychotherapy, the arts, and philanthropy. Nef, who died in 2009, was an author, Arctic explorer, psychotherapist, patron of the arts, and philanthropist.

Through the Evelyn Stefansson Nef Scholarship, the Austen Riggs Center continues to support local students pursuing education in fields connected to psychology, human development, healthcare, and the social sciences.