Appropriate salutation for female German full professor I'm buying a desk nameplate for a full professor (in USA) who is female and of German origin. I'd like to have this nameplate follow the conventional salutation someone would use in Germany for a female at the highest academic rank. 

Please note it is not important if using desk nameplates in Germany is customary or not. But if you're in Germany and have seen these in academia, I'd be interested in knowing how they're formatted. This answer is helpful but does not directly address how I should print this on a nameplate.

Assume the individual is called Joan A. Smith, Ph.D.


Prof. J. A. Smith, Ph.D.
Professor Smith
Joan A. Smith, Ph.D. (with "professor" written underneath)
etc?


What would be the most appropriate (German) way of engraving this item?
The closest to the picture you are showing is 

"Professorin Dr. Johanna Schmidt"

where the "Dr." needs to be replaced by the correct specification, e.g. Dr.-Ing., Dr. rer nat, ...

If you are having less space, you can use "Prof." instead of "Professorin" (note that "Professorin" is the female form of "Professor")

If the real title is a PhD and not a "Dr.", you should write

"Professorin Johanna Schmidt, PhD"

In all cases, the first name might be abbreviated. In Germany it is relatively uncommon to use the second name - you should check how she uses it and follow the style she prefers. 

I would not write "Professorin" underneath the name - it looks strange to me.