In the late 1990’s Sommerville was responsible for creating the Open and Distance Learning Unit at Queen Mary, University of London,with a staff of academic and administrative staff in excess of 100,offering vocational programs to part-time,learners from Hong Kong,the Middle East,China and Europe. He became Director of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) at Queen Mary in 1998,where using contacts in business and in industry he directed part-time education and vocational education programs for more than 500 UK professionals,studying online,at a distance from work and from home,alongside in excess of 1,000 overseas learners.