Brugha is Emeritus Professor of Decision Analytics at the Business School, University College Dublin;[3] he remains an adjunct professor at the Smurfit and Quinn, Schools of Business, University College Dublin.

He was the founding Director, UCD Centre for Business Analytics[3][4] and of the College of Marketing and Design, now part of Technological University Dublin.

[6] Brugha applied the principles of nomology to areas including conflict resolution, endangered languages, rural planning in Tanzania, strategy in China and political analysis.

[1] Brugha was a visiting professor at the Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, China Academy of Science in Beijing, the School of Economics and Management, Xidian University, Xi’an, China, and the University Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Together with his wife, Brugha founded the Racquetball Association of Ireland and brought its first team to the World Games in California in 1981.