The appointment comes a month after Waldron was given a retention bonus of $80 million in restricted stock. He is widely seen as a successor to current CEO David Solomon.
Waldron joins Solomon as the second member of the management committee to have a seat on the board.
Gary Cohn, a former president of the firm, previously served as a director alongside Lloyd Blankfein, who preceded Solomon as CEO.
Cohn left Goldman in late 2016 to join President Donald Trump's first administration as an economic adviser and lead the White House National Economic Council, which coordinates economic policy across agencies.
The bank also added Accenture (ACN.N) Chief Financial Officer KC McClure as an independent director of the board.
Goldman Sachs in January announced it had earned its biggest quarterly profit in more than three years as its investment bankers brought in more deal fees, while its traders benefited from active markets.
