Patricia Gras
Patricia Elizabeth Gras (born August 12, 1960) is an American journalist, television anchor, reporter and producer. Early life and education. Gras was born in Houston, Texas of Argentinian parents. In 1962, they moved back to Mendoza, Argentina, where she grew up. In 1972, she moved back to the United States with her parents. Resettled in Houston, she attended Saint Agnes Academy in 1979 and went on to get a bachelor's degree at Texas A&M University. She received master's degrees from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, from the ESADE in Barcelona, Spain and in 1990 in  Journalism from Columbia University in New York City. While in Spain, Gras learned Catalan, her fifth spoken language besides Spanish, English, French, and Italian. Career. Before completely pursuing a career in television journalism she worked as a marketing executive for Ralston Purina in Spain and with Duquesne Purina in Paris as a market researcher. In 1987 she returned to Houston. Her first job in television was with Telemundo's Channel 48, which produced the first newscast in Spanish. In the early 1990s after graduation from Columbia University she began working for Houston Public Television. She worked for the Public Broadcasting  Service in Houston, Texas, Channel 8, for 22 years. Her local talk show "Living Smart with Patricia Gras" aired on PBS channels. She also co-anchored "Latina Voices: Smart Talk" on Houston PBS, an English language, internet streamed talk show with a Latina perspective, until 2011. In 2012, she was a delegate for the Nobel Women's Initiative fact-finding mission on violence against women in Mexico led by Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams. Awards. Gras has been the recipient of over 170 journalism awards. In 2008, Gras was voted one of the most influential women by Houston Woman Magazine