Beaver stadium is named after a Civil War veteran attorney/PA governor who served as PSU President from 1906-08. It shares it's name with a dormitory and a street in town.
It was originally built just north of Rec Hall, held 30K, and was named Beaver Field.
In 1960, it was disassembled, moved to the current location and the capacity was increased to 46K.
Since then, the stadium has been expanded six times, reflecting Penn State's rise to national prominence under
Joe Paterno—more than doubling in size in the process, from 46K to 106K. There is no reason that money would need to dictate the field being named after JVP, the man responsible for more seats in the stadium than its namesake.