| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honorable |
| Paul C. Hillegonds | |
| Order: | 65th |
| Office: | Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives |
| Term Start: | January 13, 1993 |
| Term End: | December 30, 1996 |
| Alongside: | Curtis Hertel (1993–1994) |
| Predecessor: | Lew Dodak |
| Successor: | Curtis Hertel |
| Office2: | Member of the Michigan House of Representatives |
| Term Start2: | January 1, 1979 |
| Term End2: | December 31, 1996 |
| Predecessor2: | Edgar Fredricks |
| Successor2: | Patricia L. Birkholz |
| Constituency2: | 54th district (1979–1992) 88th district (1993–1996) |
| Birth Date: | 4 March 1949 |
| Birth Place: | Holland, Michigan |
| Party: | Republican |
| Alma Mater: | University of Michigan (B.A.) Thomas Cooley Law School |
Paul C. Hillegonds (born March 4, 1949) was a Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives. He served as co-speaker with Democrat Curtis Hertel from 1993 until 1994.
Hillegonds received his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
Hillegonds was first elected to the state house in 1978, beginning his service in 1979. He previously had been a legislative aid and campaign chairman for U.S. Representative Philip Ruppe.[1] He was the leader of the Republicans in the house beginning in 1987. He served as speaker of the house from 1995-1996, after having been co-speaker for one term.[2]
In 1997 Hillegonds left the legislature to become president of Detroit Renaissance. He remained in this position for nine years. In 2006 he was a co-leader of One United Michigan the main group opposed to the end of affirmative action on the ballot at the time.[3]
Hillegonds now works as the director of government relations for DTE Energy.[4]
In early 2013 Hillegonds was appointed director of the newly formed Southeast Michigan Regional Transit Authority.[5]
The name Hillegonds is originally Dutch.[6] It is a matronymic and stands for "the child of Hillegond", a variant of the name Hildegonde. The family name probably does not occur any more in The Netherlands.[7]
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