Robert Stuart Burch, an executive recruiter who worked with senior officials in the technology industry, collapsed and suffered an apparent heart attack Thursday at his downtown Washington office. He died several hours later at George Washington Medical Center. He was 43 and lived in Highland in Howard County.

Mr. Burch was a managing director of Russell Reynolds Associates in Washington, the global recruiting firm, where he led its North American technology practice. He was formerly an IBM manager in downtown Baltimore. He was the youngest son of former Maryland Attorney General Francis B. Burch, who died in 1987.

Born in Baltimore and raised on Chancery Road in Guilford, he attended the Cathedral School before graduating in 1977 from Loyola High School, where he played lacrosse and ran cross country. He earned a degree in psychology from the University of Delaware, where he was also a lacrosse player, and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University.

In the 1980s, he joined IBM in downtown Baltimore, where he designed technology systems for Baltimore insurance companies, among other firms. Eight years ago, he began working with the recruiter in Washington.

Mr. Burch was recalled for his ebullient personality infused with a sense of fun.

"He was a guy who relished challenge and competition, who preferred to play with a business team. He loved to rally people around him to solve a problem or to compete. And he made people laugh in the process," said Clarke Murphy of Manhattan, a managing director of his firm's New York office. "He'd walk into the room with a laptop computer, a briefcase, a cell phone and four ice cream sundaes, which he'd hand to his associates, just to say thank you."

"He was beloved by people all over the world in our firm. He was thoughtful to people, sensitive to their feelings, when doing little or big things," said Eric Vautour, managing partner of the Russell Washington office. "He was so warm and generous. He had an infectious sense of humor that leaned toward the practical joke side. You could count on him to be the life of the party."

Business colleagues said he had a natural ability to meet people and remember their names and faces. He was also able to embrace the latest technology and business applications.

"Stuart is a guy who touched a million people. He lived life with a ton of enthusiasm. At Harvard Business School, he was the guy with his hand up first in the classroom. He lived for his family and friends. In sports and in technology, he loved the newest toy," said Charles "Tuck" Rickards, a friend who lives in Boston.

"He had an unmatched ability to communicate his enthusiasm for life," said his brother, Francis B. Burch Jr., co-chairman of the Piper Rudnick law firm, who lives in McLean, Va.

"Whether it was to his family, his children, his wife or mother, Stuart was a guy who gave it everything he had, every day. If he ever had a bad day, you never knew it."

Family members said Mr. Burch was an enthusiastic surfer who began participating in the sport in Ocean City. He later surfed at Nantucket, Mass., and on the Pacific coast.

A Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 1 p.m. tomorrow at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, 5200 N. Charles St.

He is survived by his wife of 13 years, the former Kimberly Anne Goetze; a son, Spencer Burch, and a daughter, Quinn Burch, both of Highland; two other brothers, Richard C. Burch of Ruxton and E. Howe Burch of Lutherville; three sisters, Catherine H. Jenkins of Glen Arm, Constance B. McGrain of Towson and Patricia B. Farrell of Annapolis; and his mother, Mary Patricia Howe Burch of Baltimore.