Welcome aBoard, ...hmm--I first wanted to call you ff, but that's reserved for a buddy of mine (where are you, k?); "finny" seems kind of insulting somehow; although your screen name makes me think of Cynthia, I don't want to make an assumption; dang, guess I'll just have to say finfia!

Anyway: I recall hearing proactive in trainings [cross-thread e] back in the '70's, so it's been around at least that long.