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.[2] 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.[3] She also co-anchored Latina Voices: Smart Talk on Houston PBS, an English language, internet streamed talk show with a Latina perspective, until 2011.[4] 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.[5]
Awards
Gras has been the recipient of over 170 journalism awards.[citation needed]
^"Of Note Archives". University of Houston. August 2005. Archived from the original on 11 January 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2007. The Harris County Medical Society and the Houston Academy of Medicine presented its 2005 Francis C. Moore M.D. Medical Journalism Awards to KUHT-TV, Houston PBS. KUHT-TV staff members Patricia Gras and Fujio Watanabe received an excellence award for "Weight Loss Surgery." Gras, Watanabe, Joe Brueggeman and Gordon Luce were honored with a merit award for "Miracle Coach" and an excellence award for "F.I.R.S.T. Psychiatric Response Team." They also received a Crystal Award of Excellence at the 2004 Communicator Awards for "Miracle Coach."
^"Media Awards"(PDF). The Advocate. Vol. 21, No. 2. Mental Health Association of Greater Houston. 2000. Archived from the original(PDF) on 27 July 2011. Retrieved April 30, 2007.