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 Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

parents. In 1962, they moved back to

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (, ), officially the City of Mendoza ( es, Ciudad de Mendoza) is the capital of the province of Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plains, on the eastern si ...

, where she grew up. In 1972, she moved back to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. She received master's degrees from the

Thunderbird School of Global Management Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University (or simply Thunderbird) is a global management school in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1946 as an independent, private institution, it was acquired by Arizona State University ( ...

, from the

ESADE Esade (Escola Superior d'Administració i Direcció d'Empreses) is a prestigious international private educational institution based in Barcelona, Spain. Esade runs two schools of the university, Esade Business School and Esade Law School, as well ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and in 1990 in Journalism from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. While in Spain, Gras learned

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

, 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 Ralston Purina Company was a St. Louis, Missouri,–based American conglomerate with substantial holdings in animal feed, food, pet food, consumer products, and entertainment. On December 12, 2001, it merged with Swiss food-giant Nestlé's Fri ...

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 Telemundo (; formerly NetSpan) is an American Spanish-language Terrestrial television, terrestrial television network owned by NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, a divi ...

's Channel 48, which produced the first

newscast News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

. In the early 1990s after graduation from Columbia University she began working for Houston Public Television. She worked for the

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educati ...

, Channel 8, for 22 years. Her local

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

"Living Smart with Patricia Gras" aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

channels. She also co-anchored ''Latina Voices: Smart Talk'' on Houston PBS, an English language, internet streamed

with a

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

perspective, until 2011. In 2012, she was a delegate for the

Nobel Women's Initiative The Nobel Women's Initiative is an international advocacy organisation based in Ottawa, Canada. It was created in 2006 by six female winners of the Nobel Peace Prize to support women's groups around the world in campaigning for justice, peace and ...

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. * Regional Emmy award: Houston PBS: EMMY Lone Star : Houston Refugees (producer) 2012 * Regional Emmy award: Non News Writing Fuel for Thought: High Gas Prices and How They Got That Way. (2009) * Regional Emmy award: Producer, "Romania’s children: The Power of Love" (2005), * EMMY Suncoast: “Heroes” (1997) * EMMY Suncoast: “Romania’s children: Rescued by love” (1998) * EMMY Suncoast: “Living with Hope” (2000) * EMMY Suncoast: “Struggle makes you stronger.” (2000) * Houston Citizens Chamber of Commerce, Earl B. Loggins Award, 2006 * Willy Velazquez Hispanic Excellence Award 2005 * North American Taiwanese Women's Association Community Award 2005 * Anson Jones Medical Award, for Living Smart, “The Art of Sleep” * Bronze Telly Award-National, ''Struggle Makes You Stronger'' * Bronze Telly Award-National, ''Angel in the Journey'' * Bronze Telly Award-National, ''Living with Hope '' * Francis C. Moore M.D. Medical Journalism Award, 2005 * National Mental Health Association's National Media Award 2000 * Barbara Jordan Media Award, 2001 * Barbara Jordan Media Award, 2004 * Houston Trial Lawyers Association Annual First Amendment Award, 2004 In 2008, Gras was voted one of the most influential women by Houston Woman Magazine.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gras, Patricia 1960 births Living people People from Houston American women singers American television journalists American reporters and correspondents Texas A&M University alumni Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni American television talk show hosts Songwriters from Texas ESADE alumni Thunderbird School of Global Management alumni Hispanic and Latino American women journalists Journalists from Texas American women television journalists 21st-century American women Regional Emmy Award winners